The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Andreas Stoch, calls for clear standards for the financing of digital equipment and support in schools from the state of Baden-Württemberg. The state government should not leave schools and school authorities – i.e. cities and communities – alone with this future task, Stoch explained on Monday in Stuttgart. “It needs guidelines, standards, proposed solutions that can be used as a guide in the country. The government has to deliver here, and this is where the green-black ducking has to stop.” Money from the state is also necessary for the digital equipment.
Wrangling over competences between state and local authorities
Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) made the municipalities responsible for the issue last week. “It doesn’t make sense if one tier thinks it can get money from the other, which is under similar fiscal constraints,” he said. While the state is responsible for the training of teachers, municipalities are in demand for the “real establishment” with modern digital infrastructure.
Cities and municipalities in Baden-Württemberg recently called for further investment in digitization in schools. Serious funding is needed to equip the 130,000 teachers with devices such as laptops. An even bigger chunk are the devices for 1.5 million students in the country.
“As much as it is to be welcomed if the Prime Minister also gets the message, it is regrettable that he immediately wants to push the issue again,” criticized Stoch. “Because even if the cities and municipalities are responsible for the equipment as school authorities: When it comes to staff, it’s the state.” Schools, like craft businesses, need professional IT support from outside, explained Stoch, who is also SPD state head. “And in times of such a massive shortage of teachers, the old hobby solutions are doubly untenable. Teachers are needed for good teaching, we have to free them from additional ballast wherever possible.”
How should digitization be implemented in our schools? How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting what is happening? What was achieved in the 2020/2021 school year – what happened next in 2021/2022? This is what our series of articles aims to shed light on.
How should digitization be implemented in our schools? How has it gone so far? This is what our series of articles aims to shed light on.
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