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Digital Pact School: Funding almost completely spent
A 10th grade junior high school student works on an active board during a lesson. photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
Schools are a state matter. But when it comes to digitization, the federal government is providing the federal states with financial support. After a hesitant start, the digital pact for schools can now look back on a success.
After three and a half years of the digital pact for schools, a large part of the approximately 6.5 billion euros in federal funds has been planned or spent. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of Education and the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK).
According to the information, a total of 4.1 billion euros were tied up in the federal states for specific projects in December, i.e. planned, and almost 2 billion were spent. The federal states have to send information to Berlin every six months about how the funding is accessed. Around 26,000 of the approximately 40,000 schools throughout Germany have already benefited from the digital pact.
The funding program for the technical expansion of schools was launched in 2019 and will run until 2024. The federal government initially provided five billion euros for digital learning platforms, the development of schools’ own WiFi or the purchase of interactive boards (smartboards).
In the wake of Corona, the program was increased three times: 500 million euros for laptops for needy students, 500 million for devices for teachers and 500 million for school administrators. The federal states have to contribute ten percent of the federal share, so that the total is even more than 7 billion euros.
Schools are actually a state matter. In its coalition agreement, however, the traffic light coalition has set itself the goal of continuing to support the facilities with a “Digital Pact 2.0” in equipping them with technology and infrastructure after the end of the current program in 2024.
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