They finally want more influence over their own education: Around 280 students from all over Germany worked out demands for better education policy at a congress in Berlin.
“Currently we have no Wi-Fi, no teachers who can use it, but we have overhead projectors in every room that are older than me,” says Joel Albrecht. He is 19 years old and part of the Federal Secretariat of the Federal Student Conference. He is one of the student representatives who addressed student demands to politicians today.
The demands are the result of a three-day educational congress that took place in Berlin at the weekend. Around 280 students from all over Germany discussed and developed suggestions as to how school could be a better place for them. The aim of the congress was to finally get the student body in Germany more involved in education policy.
Consistent action against Teacher shortage
“Good education can only be achieved together with the student body,” said the Secretary General of the Federal Student Conference, Wiebke Maibaum, at today’s press conference.
Like the teachers’ associations, the participants in the education congress called for more consistent action against the shortage of teachers. High-quality teaching requires enough teachers. “The federal states should not compete with each other in this already competitive market, but rather work together as a unit on pragmatic solutions,” said Maibaum.
In addition to short-term transitional measures, the teaching profession should generally be made more attractive and freed from bureaucratic tasks. This is the most effective and sustainable way to address the teacher shortage, said Maibaum.
Bureaucratic failure
The student representatives sharply criticized the digitization efforts in German schools. Although all parties are in favor of faster digitalization, the students cannot see any progress. So far, only 30 percent of the funds from the first digital pact have been accessed.
This is a sign of bureaucratic failure, according to the student representatives. Administrative hurdles would have to be reduced so that things would go faster. In addition, more educational concepts are needed to accompany the digitalization of schools.
The Federal Student Conference also called for more political education work in schools. Swastikas on the tables, inappropriate jokes and the use of right-wing extremist symbols are a problem nationwide, said Nedjmije Bajrami, interior coordinator of the Federal Student Conference. “Political education work is currently more necessary than it has been for a long time. Rising right-wing extremism is clearly visible in schools,” said the 19-year-old. The increasing anti-Semitism in schools must also be countered with educational work.
Politicians have canceled
More equal opportunities and inclusion in the education system and a stronger focus on the mental health of learners, for example by hiring more school psychologists, were also among the demands of the student representatives.
The recipients of their demands were the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Education. The President of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, Katharina Günther-Wünsch, took part in a panel discussion at the Education Congress on Saturday, but was not present when the demands were handed over today. Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger also canceled her participation in the press conference at short notice due to a delayed flight.
The student representatives were disappointed that the education politicians did not come. “We expect that people will engage with us in terms of content,” said Bajrami. Almost 300 students worked out the demands together. You should at least listen to that.