Education is a country matter. This means that countries are not only independent of ir school system, curricula and methods, but confederation must not actually spend money on schools. The latter establishes so-called cooperation ban, which has been enshrined in Basic Law since 2006. If re are some country politicians, this is to change. For universities, ban has been softened for a long time. Recently, federal government has also eased it somewhat for schools, so that it can support financially weak municipalities in school rehabilitation.

But in schools more needs to be repaired than crumbling plasters and stinking toilets. The inclusion of handicapped children in regular classes or promotion of immigrant children does not succeed in many places because, among or things, special and social pedagogues, language teachers and educators are absent. In many places, teaching is also suffering from lack of teachers. In many federal states re are still too few full-day schools, although parents want more. In addition, digitisation required by all parties will cost billions.

Cooperation ban is outdated

Six federal states have refore now started a federal initiative to abolish cooperation ban, which is currently being discussed in committees of Chamber of State. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern minister-President Manuela Schwesig (SPD) is one of m. It considers scheme obsolete. "We need good schools and equal opportunities in education, everywhere in Germany. The cooperation ban is in way of this. That is why it should finally be abolished, "she says.

"If not now, n?" asks North Rhine-Westphalia's Education Minister Yvonne Bauer (FDP). The Jamaica exploratory talks are " right and appropriate occasion to examine elimination of legal barriers." The Berlin education Senator Sandra Scheerer (SPD) says: "It would be weak if re were no clear statements per abolition in exploratory talks." This means that better support for all-day teaching and digitisation of schools is possible.

Jamaica talks are right occasion

In fact, education is an important, unifying topic in exploratory talks. Union, FDP and Greens plan to spend more than 10% of gross domestic product on education and research 2025. But future of cooperation ban left negotiators open even though FDP and Greens want to abolish it.

Also Hamburg's education Senator ties Rabe (SPD), who is at same time spokesman for Ministries of education led by SPD and left, joins end of Kooperationssverbots, as well as Rhineland-Palatinate Education Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD). It says that so far, countries and municipalities paid "rising, immense costs" for digitisation, inclusion, integration and school construction almost alone.

The CDU education ministers sometimes formulate a little more cautiously. Schleswig-Holstein's Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) also demands that Confederation should be able to finance important educational tasks in countries. In principle, however, it should remain with education federalism.

The countries still want to decide on content on ir own. And so proponents of ban on cooperation, such as Saxony and Bavaria, are also afraid that confederation can exert too much influence on school system and content of teaching if it gives money.

Date Of Update: 06 November 2017, 12:03