A "knight's accolade" for a "lighthouse project". Waren demonstrates how a good school works. The wages for teachers and students were now in Berlin.
Berlin/Waren (dpa/mv) - The Regional Vocational Training Center Müritz in Waren (Mecklenburg Lake District) has won the German School Prize 2022. In the presence of Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), the main prize, which is worth 100,000 euros, was presented to representatives of the school on Wednesday in Berlin. In the justification it was praised, among other things, that the state vocational school with around 1400 students integrated practical work to a "considerable extent" into the lessons. In the wood workshop, the training kitchen or the training restaurant, students learned "on often more modern equipment than in the companies".
On behalf of the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Heidehof Foundation, a jury of education experts and school practitioners has been awarding the prize for particularly good school quality since 2006. Performance, dealing with diversity, teaching quality, responsibility, school climate, school life and extracurricular partners as well as school as a learning institution are evaluated. According to the information, there were 81 applications in 2022, and 15 schools qualified for the final. Cooperation partners are the ARD and the "Zeit" publishing group.
The Waren vocational school with a technical high school comprises two locations with six departments. These include health and care, cooking, jobs in woodworking and processing, the food industry and media design. "Although practical training is not mandatory in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the school has managed to integrate the practical work into the lessons to a large extent," said the spokesman for the jury, Michael Schratz from the University of Innsbruck, praising the concept in Waren. The high professional level and the strong connection to the living environment also speak in favor of the training center.
State Minister of Education Simone Oldenburg (left) was delighted: "The nomination of the Regional Vocational Training Center Müritz was already a great success. The first place awarded today is now the accolade and recognition for many years of successful work by the school management together with the staff, the students and all partners in the development of this school," she said.
The Greens member of the state parliament, Jutta Wegner, called the award-winning school a "flagship project". During a recent visit, she was able to get an idea of the work there. "I was very impressed by the special, very action-oriented school concept and above all the collegial cooperation and the everyday school life characterized by mutual respect and appreciation," said Wegner. The whole of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania could benefit from this school. "If we learn a lot from each other, we can ensure that school everywhere becomes a holistic place of life and learning for all children and young people."
Four other prizes went to the Havelmüller Elementary School in Berlin, the IGS Buchholz (Lower Saxony), the Placida-Viel Vocational College in Menden (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the German European School in Singapore. They each received 30,000 euros.
