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Digitization backlog in Germany: One in three schools has no high-speed Internet

2023-05-28T14:40:54.414Z

Highlights: According to a market analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, one in three schools in Germany does not have fast Internet. The situation is not much better for private households, with an average of 32 percent. Internet connections with a maximum of one gigabit per second are most common in schools in Hamburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt (up to 93 percent availability) While metropolises such as Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich guarantee almost full coverage, schools in rural areas are particularly often underserved.



According to a market analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, one in three schools in Germany does not have fast Internet. © Oliver Berg/dpa/Archive

According to a market analysis by the comparison portal Verivox, one in three schools in Germany does not have fast Internet. Things don't look much better for companies.

Heidelberg – Even in the 21st century, high-speed Internet is not yet standard everywhere in Germany. This is the result of a market analysis by the comparison portal Verivox from Heidelberg. What is particularly frightening is that more than 30 percent of schools in Germany do not have high-speed Internet and are therefore unable to prepare their young people for the world of work as they should. However, the current market analysis of the comparison portal also shows that the supply situation is not the only reason for the digitization of German schools, which is often criticized as inadequate.

Digitization backlog in Germany: One in three schools has no high-speed Internet

But the digitization backlog is hitting German schools just as hard as companies and private households. So the whole thing is not just a problem for schools, but rather concerns broadband expansion in Germany in general. According to the Federal Broadband Atlas, 35 percent of schools cannot access gigabit connections, but 35 percent of companies are also affected. The situation is not much better for private households, with an average of 32 percent. And the high-speed connections that are available are often unstable or slow, according to a recent survey.

Two city-states lead the school ranking: Internet connections with a maximum of one gigabit per second are most common in schools in Hamburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt (up to 93 percent availability). While metropolises such as Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich guarantee almost full coverage, schools in rural areas are particularly often underserved: On average, only 49 percent of students in rural areas can surf at gigabit high-speed.

Rural schools are poorly supplied: In rural areas, only 49 percent have fast internet at school

"Especially in the environment of educational institutions with many simultaneous, data-intensive applications, there is no alternative to high-performance Internet connections," says Jens-Uwe Theumer, Vice President Telecommunications at Verivox. "Schools and universities should be supplied with future-proof fiber optic technology as a priority."

Halle in Saxony-Anhalt brings up the rear with a gigabit coverage rate of only 39 percent. The supply situation of the schools in Leipzig and Mainz is only slightly better (41 and 47 percent respectively). Baden-Württemberg has the largest urban-rural difference: While schools in Stuttgart have 100 percent access to gigabit Internet, this only applies to 31 percent of schools in rural communities.

Digitization backlog in Germany: Use of digital media in schools not prescribed

In addition to the quality of internet access, curricula and methods play a major role in the digital affinity of educational institutions. For example, the extent to which a school works with digital media depends on the respective media education concept. This was the result of a Verivox inquiry in the responsible ministries of education and cultural affairs of all federal states. Accordingly, the curricula generally do not stipulate the use of digital media in a binding manner – only in individual subjects such as mathematics or computer science there may be concrete requirements. Which concepts are used is basically the pedagogical responsibility of the teacher.

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"This approach is based on the principle of freedom of teaching and learning materials, which is apparently not being shaken in terms of digitization," says Jens-Uwe Theumer. "For example, there are no clear, cross-border guidelines for software use. This lack of technological standardization is proving to be a major stumbling block; here the disadvantage of the federal structure becomes very clear."

Digital Pact for Schools: Hardware alone is not enough

The "Digital Pact for Schools" funding programme, which is scheduled to run until 2024, primarily finances the technical equipment of schools, for example with laptops or smartboards, but also with funds for IT administrators. "IT support in particular is often neglected; Countless reports from everyday school life prove this. Educational institutions must not be worse off than companies in this respect. In addition, there is often still a lack of digital didactics – so that tablets are not used like e-books," says Theumer. "It remains a matter of luck whether the adolescents get a teacher who attaches importance to digital training."

Market analysis methodology

Verivox has analysed the Internet coverage of schools on the basis of the Federal Broadband Atlas of the Federal Network Agency. The supply data of the largest city of each federal state were compared with the values of all rural municipalities of a federal state (named in the atlas as "spatial category rural"). The federal state of Saarland was not evaluated due to insufficient data.

In the case of gigabit connections, no distinction was made between fiber optics or cable. Nationwide, 3,660,332 companies and 32,612 schools are listed in the Broadband Atlas. Data status: June 2022 (subsequently corrected by the Federal Network Agency from December to June). The Verivox request to all ministries of education and cultural affairs in the federal states dates from October 2022.

According to Theumer, an analogue approach to digital media is a frequently heard accusation: "In order to improve digital skills, one cog should mesh with the other – the technical equipment is one component, the training of teaching staff another. But the quality of Internet access also plays a role: a single 50-megabit access via the secretariat, as has often been the case in the recent past, is not a solution." (jon/pm)

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2023-05-28

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