Berlin’s Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU) has rejected the accusation that her administration wants to abolish the independence of the State Center for Political Education. “That is simply wrong and untrue,” said Günther-Wünsch on Thursday in the House of Representatives. “We will stick to the law.”
At the end of August, the Tagesspiegel newspaper published an organizational order from Günther-Wünsch’s administration that was intended to regulate the introduction of a new staff unit. According to the order, this staff unit was to be given far-reaching powers.
In future, the state headquarters will have to implement the staff unit’s “initiatives”. In addition, annual programs, the funding of individual organizations and the creation of materials “must always be coordinated with the staff unit in terms of content and expertise” and “co-signed by them”. The state headquarters will also be “obliged to provide information and report to the staff unit,” which will be placed under the authority of the Youth Secretary Falko Liecke (CDU).
Günther-Wünsch accuses the Greens of polarization and polemics
The Green Party in particular was critical of this, fearing an “unprecedented interference in the independence of the state headquarters”. Günther-Wünsch strongly rejected this and attacked the Greens in turn, saying that they were “polarising and polemicising and thus poisoning this discourse”.
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The Education Senator pointed out that, according to the order, “service and technical supervision” remains in the responsible department. The aim is to achieve more coordination between the administration and the state headquarters. It is about management, coordination and “control in the interests of the users of the state headquarters and also the taxpayers”.
Günther-Wünsch gave concrete examples: “How is the need for an offer like the workshop ‘Screen Printing and Critical Masculinity’ actually determined? How high is the demand for ‘Anti-Racist Training for White Women’?” she asked.
However, criticism of the education administration’s plans did not only come from the Greens. On Wednesday, SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh paid a demonstrative visit to the state headquarters. “The state headquarters must be able to do its work free from political majorities,” said Saleh.
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In recent days, more than 20,000 people have signed a petition entitled “Prevent government access to political education in Berlin!”, including numerous professors from all of Berlin’s major universities. “The petition shows how campaigns work,” said Günther-Wünsch in the House of Representatives. There can be no talk of “government access” to political education.
