Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - In an open letter, an alliance of associations and councils called on the Ministry of Education to permanently secure school social work in Saxony-Anhalt. The AWO Saxony-Anhalt, the state youth work, the state parent council and the state student council complained in the letter on Monday that there was a lack of constant framework conditions. There must be a continuity here - beyond the "project status".
As a state with the highest school dropout rate in Germany (9.4 percent) and the second highest poverty rate among under-18s (25.2 percent), Saxony-Anhalt must use every means possible to consistently improve the opportunities for children and young people it in the letter. School social work makes a decisive contribution to increasing educational opportunities.
Social work in schools enables students, parents and teachers to turn to them with problems. In the counseling process, school social workers work together with the family and the school, as well as with youth welfare agencies or therapists.
Saxony-Anhalt has been implementing school social work since 2008 with the help of an EU-financed funding program. During the 2022 budget negotiations, the SPD secured funding for this until the end of the 2024 school year. The country wants to compensate for a falling EU share for the previous 380 jobs. This costs an additional six million euros per year. In addition, 14 additional positions are to be funded. From the 2024 school year, however, the districts would have to adjust to the fact that they would have to bear these costs.
