Conclusion: No winners, but at least one loser
“I thought it was a heated discussion that had no winners, but two losers,” said Alexander Gröschner, Professor of School Education and Teaching Research at the University of Jena, after the discussion. “One loser for me was Ms. Wolf (BSW), which is a shame because the moderator didn’t even ask her about the topic of education,” said Gröschner, criticizing the way the MDR conducted the discussion. He also often found the moderator to be too confrontational, which took up time in the already tight format.
I thought it was a heated debate that had no winners and two losers.
Alexander Gröschner
“The real loser, however, is Mr. Höcke (AfD),” Gröschner continued, explaining: “He has not represented any clear ideas on education policy.” Economics professor Andreas Freytag, who also teaches at the University of Jena, expressed a similar opinion: “The AfD and Mr. Höcke had no content and showed no interest in content. For me, he is clearly the loser of the round.”
Migration researcher Philipp Jaschke, from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), saw a TV debate that was driven by AfD politics. “A lot of it was about how to prevent immigration and seal off Thuringia.” He did not notice any new constructive suggestions on how Thuringia could be made more attractive to migrants.
Migration: Little substance and a surprise
Given that the discussion largely revolved around limiting immigration and deporting migrants, Jaschke saw little substance behind the repeated statements that Thuringia is a cosmopolitan state.
Only Prime Minister Ramelow (Left Party) pointed out that Thuringia must become more attractive for immigrants and that he rejects employment bans for asylum seekers in order to promote integration. “Such bans are an obstacle to integration. Our studies also show this,” agreed Jaschke.
The migration researcher also highlighted Katja Wolf’s position as a very positive surprise. “She has strongly emphasized that the social climate is important for Thuringia to remain attractive. This is also proven to be the case,” said Jaschke. However, he would not have been able to read this so clearly from the BSW party program.
Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) was also “credible” in the discussion about the intended deportation of the criminal from Apolda. However, the fact that the discussion focused on such an isolated case caused the migration researcher to be confused: “The vast majority do not commit crimes. Such isolated examples are not helpful in the general discussion on the topic.”
Jaschke also took a fundamental stance against AfD top candidate Björn Höcke. “He said that millions of people are illegal in Germany. That is of course wrong.” On the one hand, 46 percent of all migrants came to Germany from EU countries between 2010 and 2022. On the other hand, current figures show that only six percent of those seeking protection in Germany at the end of 2023 (including Ukrainians) do not have legally recognized reasons for protection.
The vast majority do not commit crimes. Such isolated examples are not helpful in the general discussion on the topic.
Philipp Jaschke
Jaschke also vehemently rejected Höcke’s statement about “mono-ethnic societies”. “There are no mono-ethnic societies. Germany and Thuringia have never been mono-ethnic societies either!”
What research says about compulsory work and payment cards
Jaschke was also critical of Mario Voigt’s (CDU) position. Voigt pointed out in the TV round that CDU district administrators in Thuringia had had great success with requiring asylum seekers to do community service. “This leads to so-called lock-in effects. Many of these people remain stuck in low-skilled jobs,” explained Jaschke, referring to research results. “At the same time, it makes it more difficult for them to take up integration services – such as language courses.”
Voigt and Kemmerich (FDP) tried to emphasize the value of payment cards for refugees. But here too the researcher disagreed: “In terms of integration policy, benefits in kind are a hindrance. We have shown this in a Study by IAB “Jaschke explained that this prevents refugees from investing in their qualifications and skills. “It also signals a negative attitude on the part of the host population.”
He also rejected the argument that this would prevent migration incentives: “Social benefits in the destination countries play a negligible role. Existing social networks and contacts are much more decisive in deciding where people go.”
Jaschke described Thomas Kemmerich’s call for the creation of a central immigration authority in which all competencies would be bundled as “sensible”. “If many threads of bureaucracy converge here, that could be very helpful. But the devil is in the details.”
The FDP’s proposal to establish a branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) directly at the initial reception facility could also make a contribution. This could shorten asylum procedures. “But whether this can be implemented in Thuringia depends primarily on the Federal Office and not on state politics,” said Jaschke.
Economy: Skilled labor shortages and bureaucracy are slowing growth
Andreas Freytag also saw no winners in his economics department. “All candidates, with the exception of Mr. Höcke, had two or three topics to offer in economic policy that could really make a difference. But the proposals often lacked the power and courage,” said Freytag.
He took Bodo Ramelow’s (Left Party) skilled worker agreement with Vietnam as an example: “I thought that was very good. He explained well how the people in Vietnam are prepared for Thuringia, how they learn the language and are then integrated into Thuringian companies,” said Freytag. “This builds on a tradition. It is a very constructive attempt. But it is of course much too small in comparison to the problem of the skilled worker shortage.”
Freytag also saw good approaches from Mario Voigt (CDU), who presented his eight-week approval guarantee in the round. Applications from citizens or companies that have not been answered after eight weeks should therefore be considered approved. “That’s a good idea and he also excluded the EU and federal level, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to keep it. But it is fundamentally correct. Something like that can put pressure on the administrative apparatus to rethink things.” According to Freytag, the proposal could lead to administrations prioritizing in order to speed things up.
Thomas Kemmerich (FDP) echoed a similar sentiment, wanting to delete two old rules for every new law and calling for more efficient digitization to ease the burden on companies. “The reporting system for companies is really excessive,” Freytag agreed. “You have to see: If I need two hours to write an application, then someone else needs at least as long to read and evaluate it. And in all these hours, no added value is created.”
BSW, SPD and Greens pale – Höcke makes himself impossible
Katja Wolf (BSW), Georg Maier (SPD) and Bernhard Stengele (Greens) were rather unsympathetic to Freytag when it came to the topic of the economy. They spoke primarily about the structural change in the automotive industry and did not want to accept the end of combustion engines cited by Kemmerich as the only reason for the gradual decline.
“And Mr. Höcke, he said goodbye to the factual and problem-oriented discussion when he drew up his horror scenarios,” Freytag continued. “Germany is – even if things could be doing better economically – not a ‘failed state’! With statements like these, Höcke is not helping Thuringia and he is certainly not solving any problems,” said Freytag.
“Overall, I was somewhat disappointed by the solutions offered by the parties,” said Freytag, assessing the level of the entire round. “I would have liked it if the parties had had the courage to say that we also have to shrink in certain areas in order to make progress.”
The country needs to consolidate itself fundamentally in order to become more efficient and effective. “It will certainly be painful if university locations or hospitals are merged or if there are fewer buses, but we can’t always have more of everything.”
I would have liked it if parties had had the courage to say that we also have to shrink in certain areas in order to make progress.
Andreas Freytag
Education: Quick solutions without foresight
Education researcher Alexander Gröschner also acknowledged that the content of the discussion was rather low-level. “If you look at the debate as a whole, it is noticeable that it was not at all about what good teaching is, but only about ensuring that it does not fail. Who does it and how well they do it no longer plays any role,” Gröschner said soberly.
For example, the politicians from the Red-Red-Green coalition, especially Georg Maier and Bodo Ramelow, praised the new dual study program for teachers. But Gröschner warned against seeing this as the solution to all problems: “The course is completely new, has not yet been evaluated and we don’t even know whether it will produce good results.” No one in medicine would come up with the idea of simply having a student in the third semester undergo an operation.
The Jena education researcher also saw some of the parties’ approaches as very short-sighted solutions. For example, Gröschner criticized Mario Voigt’s proposal to give student teachers a guaranteed job. “We have a need for math, German, and chemistry, but we have an oversupply in history, ethics, and other subjects.”
Gröschner also debunked Thomas Kemmerich’s idea of making up for lost lessons with hybrid teaching: “Hybrid teaching is the top class. Doing it well and with content is an enormous challenge that our aging teaching staff can rarely cope with. This requires more than digital equipment in schools and parents’ homes.”
Many educational topics fall by the wayside
Bernhard Stengele (Alliance 90/The Greens) was probably the one who showed the most foresight when, in response to the moderator’s question about what would be done with all the teachers in a few years’ time when the baby boomers are over, Stengele explained that our society would then have to be able to afford to have smaller classes and more teachers.
An objection that was also appreciated by Gröschner, before he criticized Stengele for sticking to too many small schools in rural areas. “I can understand that schools are an important anchor in rural areas. But in small schools with few classes and few staff, we have class cancellations much more quickly. If a teacher falls ill here, the school is usually unable to compensate.”
Gröschner only said a few words about the AfD’s ideas: “Mr. Höcke made no suggestions, but simply explained that integration and inclusion would overburden our schools. But that is not true.” What would really burden schools and teachers is the large amount of bureaucracy and administrative work.
Overall, it is a shame that education policy in Thuringia seems to be discussed only in terms of how to get the lack of lessons under control, summed up Gröschner. “The issues of lateral entrants, university funding, and vocational training have not played a role. I also missed statements on how politicians intend to respond to the changing demands of the teaching profession with continuing education and training opportunities.”
Note: Since we have published several articles on the top candidate round in the MDR and want to enable a meaningful discussion with stringent moderation, only the article “Voigt to Höcke: ‘You only talk and you never act!'” commentable.
