Volker Morbe, deputy state chairman of the Greens and spokesperson for the state working group on education, welcomes and supports the petition of the Education and Science Union for the "Strengthening of Community Schools" as well as the report from the Chamber of Labour to the state government, which accurately describes the growing educational inequality. In view of the alarming results of the Education Trends 2021 presented last week by the Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB) as well as the Education Trends 2015 and 2018, the Greens see particularly urgent need for investment and action in community schools, but also in other school types with a high proportion of students with a migration background and lower socioeconomic status of their parents.
Volker Morbe: "The community school is the type of school that has the most pedagogically complex task, namely to help students achieve a successful graduation (lower secondary school leaving certificate, intermediate school leaving certificate, university entrance qualification) within three integrated educational tracks. The complexity is also increased by the implementation of inclusion and the integration of refugees as well as immigrants. As a permeable and integrating social system ('inclusive school'), the community school must prepare very different children – from highly gifted to those requiring special educational support – in very mixed classes and learning groups for a successful private and professional life and impart the corresponding skills."
Special attention must be paid to measures aimed at improving the quality of teaching at community schools, given the very different individual conditions and needs of the students: Volker Morbe on this: "Already alarming were the educational and competency gaps identified in the IQB Education Trends in 2015 and 2018 among an increasing number of Saarland students, especially at community schools, which should have been overcome through more intensive support. With the currently nationwide insufficient reading competence of around 20% of children in the 4th grade reported in the IQB Education Trend 2021, community schools in Saarland need to address this—but they lack the resources to do so."
“The inadequate resources of the community schools are the result of years of negligence by the state government,” said Volker Morbe. “The community schools were egregiously neglected by the Grand Coalition in Saarland; numerous urgent letters document problematic teaching and learning conditions. Teaching positions were cut, class sizes were not reduced, and support hours were not expanded. The ones suffering the most are especially at-risk students, whose academic success is severely jeopardized, as recently noted by the Chamber of Labor in its report. Given the severe shortage of skilled workers in Saarland, these students need to be supported more intensively. Therefore, the Saar Green Party welcomes that the Education and Science Workers' Union (GEW) has submitted a clear list of demands to the Ministry of Education to strengthen community schools in Saarland and has initiated a corresponding petition. Quality-improving framework conditions, especially additional teaching staff, reduction of class and group sizes, and lowering the number of mandatory teaching hours, must be planned as soon as possible so that implementation can begin in the new school year.”
In summary, Volker Morbe appeals to the Minister of Education: “It is completely incomprehensible that there have been no indications or responses from the ministry regarding the urgent strengthening of community schools, as also demanded by the GEW, the State Parents' Initiative for Education, and most recently the Saarland Chamber of Labour. The refusal to provide the previously denied funding opportunities for community schools borders on the state government’s failure to provide assistance. What is needed is a major effort to implement the stronger prioritization of the academic success of socially disadvantaged children, as called for by the Chamber of Labour. In addition to a new quality management system, community schools urgently require additional teachers and staff, as well as a functional staffing structure comparable to that of grammar schools, while the introduction of the G9 system at grammar schools should be extended over time. In the current situation, it is about nothing less than the survival of the community school in Saarland, which must not suffer the fate of the former secondary modern school!”
