Congratulations on your new position, Ms. Stark-Watzinger. But let’s start right away. What importance do you think education and research have for the future of the people in our country?
I am convinced that we can make every single person strong. The way to get there is education. It begins in daycare with early childhood education, continues through school, apprenticeship, college and ideally accompanies us throughout life. In this way we create opportunities and give everyone the opportunity to advance regardless of their personal background. So better education is a program for advancement and self-determination and for growth and prosperity in equal measure. The corresponding twin is called research and innovation. Both are the basis for progress and are urgently needed in order to be able to cope with the major challenges such as corona, digitization and climate change.
What are your main plans for the next few years?
As a coalition, we want to dare to make more progress. Education and research play a key role in this. They are the most important accelerators of progress in our country. It is my ambition to build on what I have achieved and to quickly initiate the coalition agreement projects in my area. The corona pandemic has revealed the necessary modernization push in education. Therefore, accelerating and reducing the bureaucracy of the digital pact is particularly important to me. The BAföG is to be reformed and made more independent of parents. And with the start opportunities program, we want to give those children and young people who need them extra support. We also want to do more for our diverse research landscape. Science contributes significantly to progress. Therefore, the general government spending on research and development should increase to 3.5 percent. Personally, I have made up my mind to remain just as curious as scientists.
Education and research are not new topics to you. When did you come into contact with it in your life so far?
Education and research accompanied me intensively even before my political career. As a mother of two daughters, education is part of my everyday life. Before I was elected to the German Bundestag, I was managing director of two financial research institutions in Frankfurt for almost ten years. And in the Bundestag itself, I was the housekeeper for the Ministry of Education and Research.
Thank you for the interview.
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