In the tenth year, the Berlin Senator for Education, Sandra Scheeres pulled the rip cord and put her work in the hands of science. It was “risky”, as the well-respected Kiel school researcher Olaf Köller, whom she had entrusted with the evaluation of the entire Berlin education system a year ago, attested to her.
The risk has paid off: for the Social Democrat, who has been given a clear agenda for the last year of her term in office, and for the Berlin school, which is shown where the path could go instead of a dodgy course. At the end of the day, there should be a better structured administration as well as teacher training that is geared towards the core business of the school: teaching.
Because above all the goal is to make the Berlin students fit for a living on their own – without basic knowledge of mathematics and German they have no chance.
This finding is not new, but what is new is the commitment that it will not be able to achieve this goal on its own: After dozens of reforms and huge sums of money for the support of children with social and linguistic disadvantages, the Berlin education system is no better off than it was before 20 Years. In any case, that is the message of all learning progress surveys and comparative work in recent years.
If, as a result of the expert council, teacher training in Berlin is improved and combined with the advanced training in a new state institute, if the school inspectorate actually finally concentrates on the weak schools and the quality of teaching becomes more demanding, there could be a mood of optimism. A number of federal states have shown that success is feasible – even in such a cumbersome area as the school system. Including the city-state of Hamburg, which has comparable conditions.
However, Hamburg’s construction sites were manageable when educational reforms last took effect: Hamburg has its vocational training under control, its school building and is excellently equipped with teachers who – because of the civil service – are migrating in droves from Berlin to the attractive Hanseatic city. In Berlin, on the other hand, there is hardly a problem that does not exist. So where do you start?
And the next million dollar program is just around the corner
Kiel’s school researcher Olaf Köller, who also advised Hamburg, has decided on the only possible way: to show the child from daycare to high school what is necessary to develop the basic skills. However, he had another message ready, and that was: Put the watering can away! Get rid of the impulse to be able to counter any bad news from school with a million dollar program of your choice.
This impulse, however, does not come from the senator, but from her party friend, the SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh, who has prided himself on doing “everything for free” for years The school budget was pulled out and, at the same time, millions were indiscriminately pumped into schools with dubious “bonus and challenge programs”.
One would like to wish the Senator that at least her own party stops abusing schools as a field of profiling. Then reforms could take effect.
