About the PASCH initiative

The initiative Schools: Partners for the Future (PASCH) was launched by then Foreign Minister Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2008. PASCH is a beacon project that implements key objectives of cultural relations and education policy. The Federal Foreign Office promotes and coordinates the initiative, which is implemented by its partner organisations: the Federal Office of Administration – Central Agency for Schools Abroad, the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service and the Educational Exchange Service.

The Central Agency for Schools Abroad promotes and advises more than 1200 schools in almost 100 countries on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office. They include 140 German schools abroad, 27 German profile schools and more than 1000 schools offering the German Language Certificate of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany. All these schools belong to the PASCH partner schools initiative.

The German cultural institute is active all over the world, promoting knowledge of the German language in foreign countries in around 670 partner schools and presenting a comprehensive view of Germany. The Goethe-Institut provides teachers and pupils with qualifications and thereby develops and expands German tuition.

The German Academic Exchange Service is the global leader in academic exchange and promotes international academic cooperation, chiefly through scholarships, projects and communication. At the interface with Germany as a study location, the German Academic Exchange Service has shaped the education paths of more than 7000 PASCH pupils and alumni since 2008.

The PAD is responsible for international school exchange and cooperation on behalf of the Länder. Since 2008, around 400 school partnerships with PASCH schools abroad have received support – and consequently almost 24,000 pupils and teachers.