Hamburg’s all-day schools will receive a total of 128 million euros for their expansion and modernization. School Senator Ties Rabe (SPD) presented the plans for this in the town hall on Monday.
90 million euros come from the federal government, 38 million euros will take on the Hanseatic city itself, as the school authorities announced on Monday. Almost a fifth of the money has already been invested in the past two years. More than 100 million euros are to follow in the next few years.
Hamburg: All-day care is popular
Hamburg already implemented the legal right to all-day care eleven years ago, said School Senator Ties Rabe (SPD). Since then, three billion euros have been invested in the renovation and expansion of the schools from within. Other states have yet to do that. “We, on the other hand, are pleased that we can now use the federal government’s grants to significantly improve the quality of our schools.”
In Hamburg, all school children up to the age of 14 have the right to all-day education and care. According to the school authorities, the offer is free from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 87.6 percent of primary school children are currently taking advantage of the offer.
Class house, furniture, sports hall: Investments have already been made here
An example of larger construction projects is the Hamburg classroom with all-day classrooms at the Max-Eichholz-Ring school in Hamburg-Lohbrügge for around 4.2 million euros. The Neuland school in Harburg also has such a classroom. Investments were also made in improving the school canteens. For example, the Georg Kerschensteiner elementary school in Harburg received a new canteen for around 1.5 million euros.
In addition to the major construction projects, a lot has also happened in the existing buildings: new furniture, wardrobes and laptop charging cabinets have been purchased. In addition, investments are being made in the schools’ outdoor areas, such as the construction of an open-air sports hall at the Heidhorst elementary school in the Boberg district for around 670,000 euros.
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The environmental organization BUND sees the federal-state program as a unique opportunity to improve the outdoor facilities in particular. “With very few exceptions, extensive paved areas dominate the outdoor area at Hamburg’s schools,” said BUND Managing Director Lucas Schäfer. Such concrete deserts are fatal, especially in all-day schools, since children and young people spend most of their time outdoors. (dpa/mp)