Dortmund (dpa/lnw) - The State Parents' Conference (LEK) sees the long-standing underfunding of the school system as one of the reasons for the increasingly poor performance of elementary school students in NRW in German and math. In a nationwide comparison, the school system in North Rhine-Westphalia has been underfunded for decades, criticized the LEK in Dortmund. A study had revealed that fourth-graders in North Rhine-Westphalia had clearly fallen behind in their German and math skills in a five-year comparison.
When it comes to reading, about one in five children does not achieve the minimum standard, and one in three fourth graders has significant problems with spelling, as the recently presented representative country study showed. The LEK spoke of an "educational crisis".
It also shows that the gap in education between children from privileged and disadvantaged families is widening even further. "Children who are at risk of being left behind" must be encouraged in their core competencies from daycare age, the association demanded.
In addition, practicing and learning support in the primary school all day are of great importance. The LEK board of directors demanded that the people caring for the day here should be trained in order to provide "secondary educational support" above all for boys and girls from non-privileged backgrounds. Teachers urgently need to be relieved of administrative tasks in order to be able to concentrate on the lessons.
Clear framework concepts are needed - a "patch-and-tap with new funding programs" is not helpful.
