Karliczek calls for additional learning opportunities for schoolchildren

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Because a lot of regular classes are canceled due to the school closings in the corona lockdown, Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) is calling for additional learning opportunities for schoolchildren.

The federal states should create these offers, because it is to be expected that the school closings will lead to “backlogs in the learning material”, Karliczek told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

Therefore, offers have to be prepared in all countries to catch up on the missed learning material.

The offers are to be made primarily to those schoolchildren who "grow up under difficult social and financial conditions," demanded the CDU politician.

Such offers should also be made to other groups.

In a letter to the ministers of education, Karliczek promised financial support for such learning opportunities, according to information from the Funke-Blätter.

According to this, this aid is to be provided through the federal program "Kultur macht stark", which is aimed primarily at educationally disadvantaged students.

For the period 2018 to 2022, 250 million euros would be available for this program, the newspapers quoted from the letter.

Karliczek, for example, suggested learning programs during the holidays, which some countries had already set up after schools were closed last year.

However, according to Karliczek, it would also be good if there were such offers parallel to school operations - "if this can be realized at all under the conditions of the pandemic".

The chairman of the Standing Conference (KMK), Britta Ernst (SPD), asked the schools on Monday to offer programs during the summer vacation to catch up on missed learning material.

This should make up for missed learning material due to the corona lockdown, Ernst told the Düsseldorf »Rheinische Post«.

The parents should also be relieved, "because many will have used up their vacation days by summer and will not be able to travel with their children".

Since mid-December, schools in Germany have been largely closed as part of the so-called hard lockdown.

However, individual countries deviate from this in some cases.

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