Schwerin (dpa / mv) - In the dispute over the approval of a private school in Stralsund, there was an agreement shortly before the start of the new school year in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. As the Ministry of Education announced in Schwerin on Wednesday, the school, which is independently sponsored by the "unseKinder gGmbH" initiative, can start with the primary school and the integrated comprehensive school with the secondary grades 5 and 6. This decision was only made after the administrative court in Greifswald had been involved.
The ministry had initially rejected the application to open the school in Stralsund. According to its own statements, it had doubts that the new school would have enough qualified teachers. Neither school leaving certificates nor employment contracts were submitted by the school board “unseKinder” on time. However, these were then presented to the court at the end of July, so that the ministry was able to accept a proposed settlement. "Following the court's review of the reasons for the provisional ruling, the Ministry of Education will not appeal," the statement said. There is clarity for affected parents and students.
For years, there has also been a rush to private schools in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. According to data from the Statistical Office, around 80 of the approximately 560 schools in the state are privately owned. About 19,000 students learn there. According to earlier information from the Ministry of Education, the proportion of children and young people in the north-east who are taught in private schools is now around 12 percent. This is well above the national average of around 9 percent. 20 years ago, just 2 percent of schoolchildren in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania attended an independent school. These include Waldorf and Montessori schools, but also educational institutions run by churches and associations. These also receive money from the state, but also charge school fees to finance them, usually graded according to parental income.
