The corona pandemic has also and above all left its mark on children and adolescents. Recurring school closings, homeschooling and a lack of contacts have led to emotional impairments and difficulties in personal development for many. Therefore, the district wants to restructure and expand the work of the integration workers in the inclusive school or the school support – and there should not be any savings in this work. The youth welfare committee unanimously approved a corresponding decision on Wednesday at the suggestion of the SPD.
However, it is not just the circumstances of the corona pandemic that have led to the realization that more and more schoolchildren with special needs need additional support that goes beyond the curriculum. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, the number of cases in school attendants rose steadily, and with them the costs. While there were 114 students in 2018, this number rose to 157 in 2019; and the financial requirement also increased in the same period from 2.4 to almost 3.8 million euros. Then came Corona and with the school closings there was a slump in the number of cases, but the demand is now increasing rapidly again.
The school support is the responsibility of the youth welfare of the district office, it is organized in the schools by seven sponsors so far, the largest is the Arbeiterwohlfahrt München-Land. So far, all children or young people who need so-called integration assistance have been given a school guide by their side. But it is precisely this structure that is to be changed in order to create new capacities. The key is: pooling. A school companion should no longer look after just one, but several students. “The approach is good,” says Oberschleißheim Green District Councilor Ingrid Lindbüchl, who works as a teacher herself. “We know that the need for care is increasing, that more and more children – also due to Corona – need attention and support.” If every single student were given an adult on a permanent basis, but there were too many adults in the classroom, says Lindbüchl. “Our classrooms are not designed for that.” And it is important, she emphasizes, to look at each child individually, to find out what specific needs they have. “However, pooling must not mean that we no longer have individual support,” says Lindbüchl. “When I have a child with ADHD, I have to be there all the time as a school companion, because a group solution is not enough.”
SPD parliamentary group leader Florian Schardt, who successfully urged the committee not to collect a cap on the costs of school attendance, says no child should fall through the cracks. “It is very important that children who need individual care also get it,” says the Ottobrunner. “And you have to pay attention to which support is exactly the right one. But pooling can be a sensible approach.”
But now, after one and a half years of Corona, according to Schardt, it is “nonsensical” to look at the costs. The administration in the district office had initially done this by proposing to the district councils that the pooling models should be promoted “if this does not result in additional costs compared to meeting needs through individual school accompaniment”.
Reinhard Markowetz, Professor of Education at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, provides numbers to show how much school support is needed and accepted at all types of schools in the district. On behalf of the district council, Markowetz asked teachers in the district who already work with a school companion in a survey. Around 97 percent of those questioned stated that school attendants were indispensable for schools with the inclusion profile; about as many also said that school attendants should be “urgently qualified”.
This also urges the Green District Councilor Lindbüchl, who wants “more uniformity” in the qualification of school attendants. Florian Schardt demanded, however, that the commissioned survey of students, teachers, parents and school attendants, which should have been part of the Markowetz report, must be carried out; due to the pandemic, this has not yet taken place.
How school support could look like in the future, which schools should make which childcare offers, should be explored in consultation rounds at which all those involved should come together at one table. Ingrid Lindbüchl suggested that the disability advisory board be integrated into these rounds. “Because we are also talking about children and young people with physical disabilities, their concerns must also be taken into account.”