Bavaria is leaving the planned National Education Council. "Bavaria will withdraw," confirmed a spokesman for the Bavarian State Chancellery on Sunday the news agency dpa. Previously, the Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) had reported on the project.
The structure of the National Education Council had been agreed by the Union and the SPD in the coalition agreement. The panel will consist of experts and representatives of the federal and state governments and will take care of the differences in education between the countries and the comparability of the baccalaureate. However, Bavaria obviously assumes that alignment could take place at a lower level.
"We fear that in the end a Berlin Zentralabitur is the goal, which would mean a deterioration of the educational level in Bavaria," said Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) the BR. "The Bavarian Abitur remains Bavarian, by the way, just as the holidays remain, we do not want to match them."
No surprise announcement
The news agency dpa said Söder: "We like to help others, but it does not matter if in the end, all are at a lower level." Education was "very clear country thing". The National Board of Education had been "an unfortunate idea from the start", in which so far nothing has come out as disputes.
The Munich decision had been announced. As early as October, Söder had threatened to leave the proposed body at the Prime Minister's Conference in Elmau. "It's going in the wrong direction," says Söder at the time, referring to a "bureaucratic monster." With his comments Söder drew sharp criticism of the SPD culture ministers. He is by no means the only high-ranking politician who sees the project skeptically.
The impact of Bavaria's announcement on the plans for the National Education Council will become apparent. The Minister of Culture of Schleswig-Holstein, Karin Prien of the CDU, expressed pessimistic, according to BR: "If Bayern gets out and now follow other states, the Education Council is dead."
