More and more chairs are becoming available sooner than expected. Classroom in Suhl (January 24, 2020)
The high school dropout rate of 12 percent endangers “prosperity” in Germany, complains Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. Within the EU, the proportion is only larger in Romania, Spain and Hungary. How is it that Germany is one of the front runners here?
It is typical for the FDP to focus primarily on the country’s prosperity, not on the future of the affected students. However, we share the concern that so many of them leave school without a qualification. Education in Germany is generally underfunded. In Berlin, programs bring money into the system. However, there is no study into what they do: not very helpful either!
Why do so many students fail to graduate from school?
Very few people consciously decide to leave school. They often did not have success at general school, experienced failure and were not given enough support. In secondary schools there is a mentality: the student is not cut out for the relevant type of school. They send them on. In Berlin there is now at least the 11th year of compulsory schooling: This makes it possible to see how things can continue for tenth graders without a concrete perspective, without them drifting into unemployment.
What is the connection to child poverty?
Few academic children leave school early. In Germany, educational qualifications are highly dependent on social and economic background. There are hardly any effective instruments to counteract this. We have had a community school in Berlin since 2009: everyone learns together up to the tenth grade. Students are not sorted out at an early stage based on the professional future they supposedly have in store for them. This is the best way to decouple educational opportunities, economic success and social background. But more resources are needed: more school social workers and motivated teachers, smaller classes and more attractive working conditions – even in rural areas. This must finally be addressed.
Does the so-called education and participation package also play a role? It is often complained that many of those who need it do not apply for it because of bureaucratic hurdles. Offices are overwhelmed with processing.
I didn’t experience much of that in Berlin. But it’s just a symptom treatment. The school must be well equipped and be able to use its resources to do justice to all children: regardless of what economic background they come from – and without families or schools having to apply for anything per child. However, Germany’s education spending is below the average of the OECD countries. Overall, we need billions of euros more in the system. And not just for the structural changes to the partially dilapidated schools.
How can it be that the education minister from the FDP publicly complains about the conditions in her own sphere of influence instead of changing them?
It can do this because it can blame the failure on the federal states. However, it takes a joint effort by the education ministers of the 16 federal states and the federal minister to change fundamentals. Short-term measures are not enough: youth violence is also linked to a lack of prospects, which is where schools and education play a central role.
Is federalism the problem?
No. There must be different solutions from the Mecklenburg Lake District to the Black Forest. But the Federal Minister of Education is in the same party as the Federal Minister of Finance. It is important to assert yourself. Christian Lindner could tax the rich more to get money for education. This would give him the chance to get the FDP out of its poll slump.
2024-02-14 19:08:45
#State #education #finally #addressed
