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Regional Social Court of Lower Saxony-Bremen (archive picture)
Photo: Julian Stratenschulte / picture alliance / dpa
According to a court ruling, the job centers do not have to pay pupils an iPad, even if their school class switches to these tablets.
The state social court of Lower Saxony-Bremen found that the school authority is responsible for providing learning materials.
If families cannot afford the devices, the school authority must create a free loan option (
L 7 AS 66/19
).
The court in Celle announced this on Monday.
In the case, a sixth grader and her family, who lives on Hartz IV, applied for 460 euros for an iPad at the job center.
Without the device, the girl would only get her homework in paper form and would therefore be excluded in her class, they argued.
The job center was at most ready to grant a loan.
School violates the duty of neutrality
The court agreed with the authority.
Costs for digital devices are to be met from the standard requirement.
There is no additional need, because an iPad is neither required by school law nor required to graduate from school.
Compared to low-income families just above Hartz IV, an iPad is a luxury and not necessary for school.
The regional social court also found that the school had violated its duty of neutrality by preferring an Apple product.
Such a breach of law cannot be supported by the use of public funds.
Because of the fundamental importance of the case, the court allowed an appeal to the Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel.
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wit / dpa / jur