"Fridays for Education" - sentence by the Minister of Education triggers resentment among state colleagues

It was a quite unusual move by Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP). In an interview with the Funke media group, she was asked how she thinks that the climate protectors from Fridays for Future are doing activism at the expense of education with their school strikes. She thinks it's good when students get involved in their future, replied the minister.

“Only education is exactly that – future. For example, when I see the teacher shortage, which is a big problem, I ask myself why there aren't actually Fridays for Education," said Stark-Watzinger. Pupils could advocate “more and better qualified teachers, more modern and digital schools” and “more comparability of degrees”.

There is general agreement across the country that there is a lack of all this. There are now hardly any deficits in knowledge, especially when it comes to the subject of teacher shortages. But school strikes for education? Is that really what a federal education minister should call for? And wouldn't that be a foul against your fellow ministers in the countries that are responsible for the issue of schools?

In any case, the Hessian Minister of Education Alexander Lorz (CDU) felt maximally triggered. "Irresponsible" are the statements of the Federal Minister of Education. "Parents want to see their children at school, but instead they are now being incited by a member of the federal government to boycott the school on Friday - as if the general shortage of skilled workers could be countered with demonstrations," Lorz fumed.

Hamburg's school senator Ties Rabe (SPD) told WELT that the most important prerequisite for a good education is good teaching - "from Monday to Friday". “Instead of a school strike by schoolchildren, we now need meaningful programs in Germany that make the teaching profession attractive in the long term, support schoolchildren in difficult situations and quickly help to make up for the omissions of the Corona period.”

However, Rabe said he was certain that the Federal Education Minister had not called for a school strike. That's how they want it to be understood in Stark-Watzinger's ministry. "The Federal Minister of Education has spoken out in favor of pupils being committed to a better education system," the department said.

Nevertheless, the skirmish highlights the currently tense relationship between the Federal Minister and her state colleagues. Because some also resent Stark-Watzinger for not slowing down Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) in the revision of the Infection Protection Act. Instead, it was the countries that were able at the last moment to prevent schoolchildren from having to present a medical certificate or an official test if they want to go to school, even if they suspect corona.

"The federal states had to fight this battle alone so that the children in school weren't the only ones to suffer disadvantages again," criticizes Lorz. The President of the Conference of Ministers of Education, Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Education Karin Prien (CDU), was also dissatisfied: "I would have expected that the Federal Minister would also support her cabinet colleague Lauterbach with the Infection Protection Act for a solution in the interests of the students," said Prien WORLD.

In general, the federal government falls far short of the expectations from the coalition agreement, Prien criticized. This also applies to the "Starting Chances" program, with which the federal government wants to support 4,000 schools with particularly disadvantaged students. The program was originally supposed to start in 2023. But so far there has been a lack of key points and a clear commitment as well as a timetable for implementation, says Prien. "Priority for education looks different."

There is a lack of teachers, that is well known. But now things are getting particularly dramatic. "This school year is the worst school year in 50 years," said the German Teachers' Association.

Source: WELT/ Laura Kipfelsberger

The Federal Ministry of Education states that the program is currently "in the conception phase". A report on the status of the considerations is currently being coordinated within the federal government and should be presented to the Bundestag "promptly". A declaration that at least does not satisfy the Union-governed countries coordinated by Lorz. "We are concerned that the federal government has still not submitted a concept for the start opportunities program it initiated for schools," said Lorz WELT. "The probability that we will get the program up and running in this legislative period is decreasing from week to week."

The Union is therefore calling for the end of the “Catching up after Corona” action program, which expires in September, to be extended. The Bundestag is debating a major question from the Union on the consequences of the pandemic in children and young people on Thursday. "In the opinion of the questioners, the previous inactivity of the Federal Minister of Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger should be viewed with great concern," it says.

However, it is doubtful whether maintaining the catch-up program would do the trick. An evaluation by the Berlin Science Center recently showed that the goal of primarily reaching children and young people from socially disadvantaged families and with a migration background was largely missed.

In many places, the additional support has proven to be “rather than a middle-class program and a boost to the private tutoring market,” said Anja Bensinger-Stolze, board member for schools of the Education and Science Union. The planned "Starting Chances" program must therefore urgently be designed to be more efficient, socially balanced and sustainable.

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