For years teacher shortages and an overall lack of investment and ambition has hampered attempts to improve education in Germany.
Enter Karin Prien (CDU), Germany's new and super-charged Minister of Education -- officially Minister of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Young People, or head of the BMBFSFJ -- with ambitious plans to reform schooling in Germany.
Prien, who has years of experience in the field as a state education minister for Schlewig-Holstein, is determined to take advantage of the ministry’s expanded remit to “think about education holistically … and from the perspective of children and young people.”
So what does this mean in practice? Here are the main planned changes that parents of school kids in Germany can expect.
The expansion of all-day schooling
With German schoolchildren falling behind their peers in other countries, according to PISA scores, and more and more families with both parents in full-time employment, the minister is determined to push ahead with plans to offer all-day schooling across the country.
READ ALSO: How all day schools could worsen Germany's teacher shortage
These plans were originally introduced by the previous traffic light government, and many schools have already started building out new canteens and other school buildings they need to offer all-day schooling.
Unfortunately, as many of these projects have fallen behind schedule, the first bill Prien has brought before parliament (which was discussed on Thursday morning) will attempt to delay federal deadlines for all-day schooling by two years, to 2030.
READ ALSO: How do pupils in Germany compare in international maths and science tests?
More investment in early education, and mandatory testing
In interviews, Prien has suggested that the number of children who start school with a poor command of German is responsible for the relative decline in educational achievement in Germany in recent years.
With the goal of raising standards, and halving Germany’s school dropout rate by 2035, Prien wants to introduce mandatory testing for children at the age of four. She has also talked about introducing mandatory support for children whom the tests identify as being behind in their development.
During a recent speech, Prien stated that the federal government would “invest billions in daycare centres and schools.”
The minister has also announced her intention to relaunch the language daycares (Sprach-kitas), and extend the Starting Chance (Startchancen) programme in schools to Kitas in socially deprived areas.
Prien also wants to review nationwide quality standards for Kitas, with a view to placing more emphasis on education and less on childcare.
No more mobile phones in primary schools?
Prien has taken issue with children spending too much time in front of screens.
School children in Germany are among the world leaders in screentime, according to a recent OECD report which found that 15 year olds in Germany and Austria use electronic devices for an average of 30 hours per week.
Prien has set her sights on minimising screentime from an earlier age. She has spoken out against the amount of time pre-schoolers spend in front of screens, and voiced favour for banning the use of mobile phones in primary schools altogether.
State ministers of education are already looking at the issue. Prien intends to help them in their deliberations by providing better access to scientific studies, evidence, and analysis.
READ ALSO: What are the rules in Germany on students having phones at school?
Integrating youth services and specialised teacher training
However, halving the school dropout rate in the next ten years won’t be possible simply through testing pre-schoolers, offering all-day schooling, and banning mobile phones.
Prien also wants to invest in more support for children who arrive late in Germany’s school system – and in additional training for teachers on how to cope with “difficult and demanding groups of pupils.”
She intends to take advantage of the expanded remit of her ministry to “link youth welfare services more closely with schools,” in order to prevent pupils from falling through the cracks.
READ ALSO: What having kids at a German kindergarten teaches you about the local culture
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