Education
Schools: Progress in equipping with digital technology
Student with a tablet: According to school management, there is a lack of money for digitization. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
According to a survey, almost all schools have laptops, tablets or smartphones for at least some of the students. However, associations see further room for improvement.
Headmasters in According to a survey, Germany is seeing progress in equipping schools with digital devices.
In a Forsa survey commissioned by the Association for Education and Upbringing (VBE), which was presented in Stuttgart, 90 percent of respondents stated that their school had class sets with laptops, tablets or smartphones available to at least some of the students stand. According to the survey, in 2020 this was only the case in a good third of schools in Germany.
From the VBE’s point of view, the equipment with technical devices is not sufficient. “While the Standing Scientific Commission of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs recommends in a statement that training in the use of artificial intelligence should be given starting at secondary school, one in ten school management is left without equipment,” criticized VBE chairman Gerhard Brand.
“We need a digital pact for eternity”
According to school management, there is a lack of money for the digitalization of schools. 90 percent of school management has already submitted applications for funds from the digital pact, with which schools can finance the expansion of the digital infrastructure and the purchase of devices for students.
Only about a quarter of those surveyed think the resources are sufficient, three quarters think more money is needed. Brand therefore called for further support: “What is now necessary is a show of strength by the federal government, states and municipalities, which work together and sustainably, across the board and in the long term, to ensure digitization in schools.” What is needed is a digital pact that lasts forever, says Brand.
For the survey commissioned by the VBE, the opinion research institute Forsa surveyed 1,310 school principals in Germany. The survey took place by telephone and online from September 15, 2023 to October 20, 2023. According to Forsa, the results are representative of school management at general schools in Germany with a margin of error of three percentage points.