"There is not much left of the promise of promotion today": The youth union warns the federal government
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Actually, the federal government should submit a student loan report every two years, on the situation of the students and the current developments in student financing.
But the most recent report is from 2017 - the new one is two years overdue.
"The federal government regularly fails to meet its reporting obligations," says Manuela Conte, federal youth secretary at the German Federation of Trade Unions.
The DGB-Jugend has therefore drawn up an »Alternative Bafög report« for 2021 in order to highlight undesirable developments and the need for reform in state student funding.
A look at the funding data shows that “despite substantial improvements, the previous reform was not sufficient,” says the as yet unpublished report that is available to SPIEGEL.
The next reform steps must therefore be initiated urgently.
The DGB youth cites several points of criticism of the current student loan policy:
The fact that the legally required official report is not presented is
hindering the development of new reform ideas
.
Because the government report on student financing is the "most important basis for the general improvement and adaptation of the training subsidy to price and wage developments."
If the report does not appear or only appears late, the adjustment will be delayed accordingly - with direct financial consequences for the students.
The
basic allowances
are
much calculated too low
- which is shared by the German Student Union a criticism.
In the alternative student loan report, the authors write that a room in a shared apartment costs an average of 403 euros.
The currently valid flat rate flat rate for Bafög recipients is 325 euros.
Funding numbers have
been
falling for
years
, and fewer and fewer young people are receiving student loans.
"Compared to 2015, 27 percent fewer pupils and 21 percent fewer students were funded," says the DGB report.
In the upper secondary level at general schools, only one percent of the pupils are supported.
For the state, this means significant savings through less student loans.
"They fell by 350 million euros between 2015 and 2019, while gross domestic product rose by 432 billion euros and total federal spending rose by 45 billion euros," the authors calculate.
This is a "depriorization of the task of promoting education".
Actually, the Bafög was supposed to serve equal opportunities in the education system, said Elke Hannack, deputy DGB chairwoman: "There is not much left of this promise of promotion today." Germany cannot and should not afford to cut off working children from their educational opportunities.
DGB Federal Youth Secretary Manuela Conte emphasized to SPIEGEL that social origin should not decide on educational opportunities: "We need better student loans as soon as possible." in the student loan appropriately «.
At the end of May, the court referred a case to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The highest administrative judges made it clear that they consider the student loan rates to be unconstitutional. Student representatives in particular hope that the procedure will send a clear signal that the student loan will soon be increased. Manuela Corte said that the fact that such a procedure had even come about was a »poor certificate« for the federal government.