"Have an integration problem": teachers' association demands migrant quota for school classes

After the riots on New Year's Eve, German migration and education policy came into focus.

"Have an integration problem": teachers' association demands migrant quota for school classes

After the riots on New Year's Eve, German migration and education policy came into focus. The incidents are a sign of a lack of "value education," says Teachers' Association President Meidinger. He wants to limit the number of children with a migration background in school classes.

The President of the German Teachers' Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, has called for the introduction of migrant quotas in schools and in classes. From a proportion of 35 percent of children with a migration background in a class, "the performance would decrease disproportionately", said Meidinger of the "Bild" newspaper. Integration does not succeed if, for example, 95 percent of the students in classes at troubled schools are non-German. "We have an integration problem in Germany," which is also happening in the schools, he said.

If politicians want integration to be successful, "obligatory pre-school support, nationwide language tests and migration quotas" are necessary, said the association's president. At first, Meidinger did not want to commit himself to exactly how high the quota should be.

The background is the incidents on New Year's Eve, where young people and young men with a migration background attacked police officers and firefighters in several German cities - including with firecrackers and rockets. For Meidinger, this is a "question of value education" that parents no longer do. Teachers would do their best to catch up on education, "but without cooperation with the parents, they often fight a losing battle here".

Meidinger also criticized politicians for failures in recent years. The traffic light coalition has not made any progress with the agreed investments. He has the impression that education is often given a back seat when it comes to setting political priorities. "If you let education slide like that and you don't take massive countermeasures, then the conflicts will increase," warns Meidinger.