Even before the new school year has started, you can list the problems that arise in your sleep. Too few teachers for more pupils, too many dilapidated school buildings, in which winter is also likely to be cold and – still – Corona, with all the known consequences of learning deficits to psychological and social stress.
Berlin’s Education Senator Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD) says that she does not want to allow school closures across the board: neither because of Corona nor because of a lack of energy. How absurd would such a statement have sounded a few months ago!
Shut down the school because there is no electricity or gas and you cannot heat it? The mere fact that this is considered within the realm of possibility shows how much reality has changed since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
On the other hand, the fact that there are a lot of teachers missing has been the harsh reality in Berlin for years. It’s almost deadened by now. You also know the muddling through, the shortage management, the constant cancellation of lessons. One just hopes that the schools will somehow manage to cover the majority of the hours this time too.
However, this mumbling and somehow managing is not good enough, and neither parents, teachers nor politicians should get used to it. Because it is indeed a scandal that, despite all assurances, education and pedagogical care for children and young people are still not seen for what they are and are not equipped accordingly: one of the most important tasks in this country.
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For the children who are now going to school, a period of at least ten years is beginning, which will shape their future lives. What they learn and how well they learn is decisive for the opportunities they have later in their careers and in their lives. It is also the time when their personalities develop, they discover passions and talents, make friends and learn to get along in groups.
How bitter when these years are restricted by a constant shortage and opportunities are therefore blocked. It is particularly bitter for those students who need special support and attention and may not get it. And what a fatal signal that the children receive: you are not that important after all.
Even if every effort were made to train more teachers, to build new school buildings and to renovate existing ones: Many of the children and young people who are now in school will – if things actually get better at some point – get nothing out of it. And doubts about this “if” are appropriate:
[School in Berlin – always a topic in the district newsletters from the Tagesspiegel, order free of charge at tagesspiegel.de/bezirke]
The many shortcomings have been known for decades, and the many omissions can also be listed in your sleep: Far too few teachers were trained at the universities, the buildings were spared for years and Berlin lost thousands of teachers with the special way of not becoming civil servants .
The reference to the past wears off when these mistakes are dragged along over the years instead of being resolutely corrected. There are still too few graduate teachers from the universities arriving at the schools, and important school renovation projects are then postponed for years for financial reasons. After all, civil servants are now being employed again, but it will also be some time before all teachers in Berlin who are eligible for this can enjoy this benefit.
Politicians like to talk about challenges instead of problems and crises. You can accept it or reject it, you can cope with it or you can’t. However, we as a society cannot afford that in the field of education. There are real problems that need to be solved. Failure is not an option.
