At community schools, children and young people should learn longer together - there are three schools of this type in Saxony. Not enough, finds one club.
Dresden (dpa/sn) - With a day of action, the association "Learn longer together in Saxony" wants to draw more attention to community schools this Saturday in Dresden. The topic has not taken up much public space in the last two years, many simply do not know that the new type of school exists, said the association's chairman Florian Berndt in advance. The community school day should also be the starting point for initiatives that want to transform their school.
The legal basis for community schools in Saxony was created in July 2020. At this type of school, children and young people learn together from grades 1 to 12 or in grades 5 to 12 and can complete all qualifications from the secondary school certificate to the Abitur. Depending on their potential and level of performance, the children learn together, but with different tasks. According to the Ministry of Education, there are three community schools in the current school year - one in Leipzig and two in Dresden.
On request, the House of Minister of Education Christian Piwarz (CDU) does not want to give an assessment of how satisfactory the development is because there are still too few schools. The initiative to establish a community school must come from the grassroots. "So voting is taking place with your feet," the ministry said.
According to Berndt, there is great interest in the Albertstadt community school in Dresden. So far, the association has not been able to observe any major movements in the same direction in the districts. "From our point of view, the establishment of community schools and secondary schools in Saxony is progressing very slowly, more should have happened in two years," said Berndt.
The chairman of the association sees role models in the neighboring state of Thuringia when it comes to community schools. There are advisors there who provide specific support in the conversion to community schools and in the development of didactic concepts. "Concrete exploration, encouragement and support for existing schools that meet the requirements instead of waiting for schools to move would benefit development," says Berndt.
