Education: Broad alliance calls for continuation of the school digital pact

2023-10-16 11:42:38

Education Broad alliance calls for continuation of the school digital pact

A teacher writes a math problem on a digital blackboard in a 4th grade classroom at a primary school. photo

© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa

In the coalition agreement, the traffic light government promised a digital pact 2.0 for schools. However, the federal and state governments cannot agree on specific approaches. This calls for a broad alliance to emerge.

A broad alliance of teachers, parents, school authorities and the digital economy has urgently warned against the expiry of the Digital pact school warned in May 2024. In an online press conference held by the digital association Bitkom, the Federal Parents’ Council, the Association for Education and Upbringing, the German Association of Philologists and the German Association of Cities and Municipalities emphatically called for the implementation of the seamless follow-up financing guaranteed in the coalition agreement.

The background is the scheduled end of the so-called Digital Pact for Schools in spring 2024. In its coalition agreement, Ampel announced that, together with the states, it would launch a “Digital Pact 2.0” for schools that will run until 2030. Countries are demanding a seamless transition, but negotiations are stalled.

There is a lack of broadband access to the Internet

The deputy federal chairman of the Education Association, Tomi Neckov, pointed out that of the approximately 30,000 schools in Germany, around a third do not have broadband access to the Internet. There is also no WiFi in the classroom. “This means that digital use of digital media is hardly or not at all possible there. One in eight schools does not even have a single class set of laptops or tablet computers.”

The chairwoman of the Federal Parents’ Council, Christiane Gotte, said that digitalization is a prerequisite for modern education, equal opportunities and thus for comprehensive participation in social life, not a luxury. “That’s why the following applies: digital pact first, concerns second.” The world is changing ever faster and digital skills have become an integral part of modern life. “Our children must be prepared to be successful in a digital society.”

The managing director of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, referred to the successes that had already been achieved but were now at risk. “The Digital Pact for Schools has helped us in Germany to make significant progress in terms of equipping our schools and providing digital devices. Now we have to take the second step and ensure that we don’t squander our successes again.”

Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said that the future viability of the German economy as a whole depends largely on the quality of our educational institutions. “97 percent of companies want the federal and state governments to invest more in the digitalization of schools.” This was the result of a representative survey of companies with 20 or more employees in Germany. The 604 companies were surveyed by telephone in August and September.

dpa