Icon: enlarge
Chancellor Merkel and SPD leader Saskia Esken among the education ministers
Photo:
Jesco Denzel / dpa
The announcement was accompanied by an admission: When everyday school life had to be switched to learning at home overnight at the beginning of the corona pandemic, it became clear how important digital education is - but also what everything is still not working, said Chancellor Angela Merkel in her video podcast over the weekend.
"That is why we have to push ahead with the digitization of schools at full speed. We need it as an indispensable addition to classroom teaching."
For this offensive, Merkel invited Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU), SPD leader Saskia Esken and the education ministers of the federal states to the Chancellor's Office for Monday evening - the first meeting of this caliber since schools were closed so abruptly in March.
In addition to digitization, hygiene concepts in schools were also on the agenda.
Education unions, parents and country representatives as well as the opposition hoped that the meeting would lead to progress in the areas of teacher training, service equipment for teachers, broadband connections in schools and ventilation systems for the classrooms.
Because although the responsibility lies with the federal states, the meeting was seen as a strong signal: "In these extraordinary times, it is a matter of doing everything together to ensure that children and young people are not the losers of the pandemic," Merkel said.
The seven points: already known
Due to the federal system, school policy varied from country to country again and again during the corona crisis - now the summit participants had to be judged by whether they deliver more than symbolic politics and declarations of intent.
But the summit did not convey the "high pressure" conjured up by Merkel.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert only announced after the conversation that "plot lines have been identified".
The seven named points, however, are all already known.
These include expanding the high-speed internet for schools, equipping teachers with work laptops and co-financing IT administrators.
It has long been clear to everyone involved that something has to happen.
more on the subject
School summit in the Chancellery: "We are all determined"
After the summit, KMK President Stefanie Hubig praised the "willingness of the federal government to enable the procurement of terminals for teachers this year".
But the federal government's promise to invest in equipping the teaching staff was the result of a small meeting with the Chancellor in August.
In addition, a fundamental problem remains: money alone does not help to make up for the failures of digitization.
The federal government has already made around five billion euros available through the School Digital Pact.
But implementation in the federal states is extremely slow.
According to a small request from the FDP, around 15 million euros had been called up by the middle of the year.
Hubig said to SPIEGEL that things were "really getting started".
After all, the funds would only be approved if the schools submitted appropriate concepts and applications.
And at the beginning of the pandemic, many would have had other worries at first.
But Germany has a lot to catch up in an international comparison.
more on the subject
Icon: Spiegel Plus President of the Conference of Ministers of Education promises: Changing schools to another federal state should be easier An interview by Silke Fokken and Armin Himmelrath
Schools and Corona: Germany found it particularly difficult to switch to digital teaching
It was similarly difficult at first with the additional 500 million euros that the federal government promised schools in April for "instant equipment" with laptops for distance learning.
It often takes months before the devices are actually available.
In Thuringia, for example, the majority of applications were only approved at the beginning of September, and in Rhineland-Palatinate, too, the formalities were only less than half of the planned budget at the time.
In addition, there are delivery times, setting up the operating systems, licensing issues and data protection regulations.
As a result, many schools are still not equipped to return to distance learning.
more on the subject
Survey in Corona times: This is how parents experience digital teachingBy Silke Fokken
GEW survey: Teachers are dissatisfied with digital lessonsBy Armin Himmelrath
Laptops for distance learning: Students in need get loan devices instead of a 150 euro grant
Poor children in distance learning: Empty stomachs instead of laptopsBy Florian Diekmann and Silke Fokken
The same applies in autumn: presence operation comes first
In principle, however, the goal remains: face-to-face instead of distance learning.
"The federal and state governments are jointly determined to prevent the schools from being closed across the board again, if possible," said government spokesman Seibert on Monday evening.
For this reason, Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek had already appealed to the population before the summit to adhere to the hygiene rules.
"As a result of its behavior, society has a great deal of control over how school operations will run in the next few months," she told the dpa news agency.
Teachers' unions also saw politics as being responsible for providing schools with suitable hygiene concepts for the autumn.
In particular, the questions of how ventilation should work in autumn and whether air filters are used should be clarified uniformly nationwide, demanded the Education and Science Union (GEW), the Education and Training Association (VBE) and the Federal Parents' Council (BER).
"The cost of using the devices must not be a knockout criterion. If companies are saved with billions, the future of this country, the teachers, schoolchildren and their parents should be worth at least as much to us," said the chairperson.
more on the subject
Corona measures cannot be implemented: school principals in North Rhine-Westphalia sound the alarm two weeks after school starts
SPIEGEL education newsletter: Stomping start to the new school year by Susmita Arp, Silke Fokken and Armin Himmelrath
Lessons after Corona: countries agree on a loose hygiene concept for schools
Hygiene plan: postponed
Some federal states spoke out against the plants even before the summit.
"We need manageable solutions for schools," said Lower Saxony's Minister of Education, Grant Hendrik Tonne.
In Lower Saxony, the rule is: 20 minutes of lessons, 5 minutes of intermittent ventilation, 20 minutes of lessons.
Baden-Württemberg's Minister of Education, Susanne Eisenmann, also said in the ARD Mittagsmagazin: "Ventilation devices alone in every room in hundreds of thousands of classrooms will not solve the problem."
Instead, intermittent ventilation is still the best option, which you have to keep an eye on even in winter.
However, the German Teachers Association had repeatedly criticized the fact that in some schools the windows could not be opened wide everywhere.
KMK President Hubig expressed understanding on behalf of her colleagues for the concerns about how the school could be maintained in the cooler season.
The decision, however, was postponed: In order to be able to advise on the basis of scientific expertise, the ministers of education invite you to a technical discussion on the subject of ventilation hygiene on Wednesday.
They should then announce the results without Merkel.
The next Corona school summit in the Chancellery is only planned for the beginning of 2021.
Icon: The mirror
With material from dpa