Before the school enrollment ceremonies for the new first graders take place, all children must be medically examined and tested – at least according to the official rules of the school law. In the past two years, these studies have only been carried out to a very limited extent due to the pandemic.
The Neukölln health department has now reported that all children have been examined again this year: In total, this affects 3393 new first graders in the district. At the same time, a need for support was identified in almost half of the children because their motor skills are not at the level of their peers.
City Councilor for Health Mirjam Blumenthal (SPD) said: “After the school entrance examinations could only take place to a limited extent in the last two years due to the pandemic, I am very pleased that we were able to implement this important measure for school access this year as needed.”
And further: “If you take into account the actual time required for each examination, it becomes clear that this was only possible thanks to the dedicated commitment of the employees of our district child and youth health service.”
An examination usually lasts three quarters of an hour. There are health tests, then the child’s abilities are tested. Birte Krutz, head of the Neukölln child and youth health service (KJGD), describes the procedure as follows: The children are not examined for their general suitability, but it is “a matter of assessing the linguistic, motor and mental development of the child in order to be able to start parenting at an early stage and school to give the best possible support advice or to recommend a deferral.”
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The latter affected 385 children in the current school year, for whom a later school enrollment was requested. Krutz went on to say: “We identify special needs in almost half of the children, mainly in the area of language and visual perception/visuomotor skills. The aim of our recommendations is to provide every child with the school conditions they need to be able to learn successfully.”
If the employees of the KJGD determine that the children have a greater need for support, they will consult with the responsible day care center and/or initiate help for the families, for example therapy offers or support offers for education.
