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reGermans are fed up with the mosaic of education. A large majority would like more uniform curricula and regular tests that make the performance of students in different federal states comparable.
A regular high school diploma is also on your wish list. This is the result of a representative opinion poll among more than 10,000 adults, presented on Wednesday by the Ifo Institute in Munich.
In essence, the Germans are in favor of more centralism in education. Sixty percent of those surveyed are in favor of important educational policy decisions being made by the federal government and not by the federal states.
76 percent would like regular tests on the Ifo education barometer so that student performance is comparable across federal states. 88 percent of respondents support uniform high school curricula. 84 percent favor a joint core high school diploma.
83 percent want a binding state treaty on education
However, politics has not been able to offer all of this in recent years. It is true that the Union and the SPD in the federal government agreed to create a “National Education Council” in their coalition agreement, which was supposed to present “proposals for greater transparency, quality and comparability in education”.
However, the states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg prevented such a council from taking place. The two countries, whose students regularly do well in comparative studies like Pisa’s, do not want state sovereignty anchored in the Basic Law to be touched on educational issues.
Most Germans apparently see it differently. According to the Ifo poll, 70 percent support the establishment of a National Education Council, only 16 percent are against it. 83 percent would like an interstate education agreement with binding requirements for all countries.
Only nine percent are against it. The Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal Government and the Länder (KMK) is currently working on a draft for such a joint education agreement. However, the opinions of the main educational politicians of the parties differ.
The education policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Albrecht Rupprecht (CDU), speaks out against giving the federal government more responsibility for education issues. “We need a forward-thinking and coordinated strategy and common approach, but not yesterday’s debate on the shift of competencies,” he told WELT.
Source: WORLD infographic
The most recent coalition committee resolutions with the digital education offensive, a nationwide education platform, and educational competence centers went exactly in this direction.
His colleague from the SPD parliamentary group, education policy spokesman Oliver Kaczmarek, opposes this: “It is more than regrettable that the National Education Council has not emerged due to the blockade of some countries led by the CDU / CSU and the Greens.” .
Ifo’s education barometer makes it clear that people want more cooperation and comparability in education. Therefore, the SPD continues to advocate for a committee of experts at the federal and state levels.
“We need an update for a sustainable educational federalism,” demands Katja Suding, spokesperson for education policy for the parliamentary group FDP in the Bundestag. “To create true equality of opportunity, we need consistent, high-quality educational standards across the country and core final exams,” he told WELT. The time has come for a requirement for cooperation between the federal and state governments.
Margit Stumpp, spokesperson for education policy for the Greens in the Bundestag, also calls for this principle of cooperation. She accuses the federal Minister of Education, Anja Karliczek (CDU): “Instead of investing in the future, Minister Karliczek hides behind the prohibition of cooperation and leaves the financially weaker states and municipalities in the rain. But educational success shouldn’t depend on the zip code. “
Source: WORLD infographic
The slogan “prohibition of cooperation” describes a regulation of the Basic Law, according to which the federal government cannot exert any influence on the school policy of the states, in particular, not by financing educational measures. This passage was relaxed in 2019 as part of the “School of the Digital Pact”.
The federal government can now co-finance investments in digitizing schools. However, this does not include voice in the syllabi and test content, as most Germans would like to see.
According to the Ifo education barometer, the vast majority of 90 percent of Germans would also like to see standardized teacher training. Additionally, 85 percent are in favor of having a teacher’s training recognized automatically in all other federal states.
In the federal system, each federal state currently determines how it trains its teaching staff. Ratings are often not recognized in other federal states. This immobilizes teachers when choosing their work.
The crisis in the Crown has apparently reinforced the Germans’ desire for greater centralization. At least that’s what Katharina Werner, co-author of the educational barometer Ifo, is convinced of.
During the crisis, federalism had a rather uncoordinated effect on people due to very different regulations in countries, such as the mandatory mask or directions for school closings, Werner said. 71 percent of Germans would have liked to have uniform decisions at the national level.
Source: WORLD infographic
For the Ifo Education Barometer 2020, more than 10,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 69 were surveyed online in June. The sample is representative of the opinion of the Germans.
