Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - After its decision on two projects for educational equity in elementary schools, the state government is being slapped down by the responsible trade union. "It's bitter and despondent," said Monika Stein, the Baden-Württemberg chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW), the "Badisches Tagblatt" (Friday). "I can't talk about educational justice and not fill this goal with life."
Reference is always made to the rise of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, which ten years ago was one of the last three countries and is now among the top group in the education ranking. But while the green-black coalition is investing almost 200,000 euros a year and per region for a pilot project in three school districts, Hamburg is spending this amount per school. "And if I, as a rich state of Baden-Württemberg, say that we're looking at it, then we have to really look at it and actually copy what's going well," said Stein.
Not enough happens, criticized the GEW state chair. The government's key departments and positions are in green hands. "The Greens could now prove that and how green education policy works," said Stein. "In no other federal state do you have more opportunities to actually implement green politics."
The reason for projects and criticism is, among other things, a study by the Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB), according to which fourth-grade boys and girls in the south-west are having increasing problems with reading and listening. The proportion of strong students who achieve or exceed the standard in German and mathematics has fallen. Almost every fifth child does not meet the minimum standards in German and mathematics. Children from socially disadvantaged families or with an immigrant background performed worse in the performance test.
