SDG 4
Ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
§ Create equal opportunities and equality through free education
In addition to the introduction of a basic child allowance, a prerequisite for more equal opportunities is an education and training system that leaves no one behind. The federal, state and local governments must finally create a high-quality education system that is free of charge. This includes, on the one hand, the free provision of all teaching and learning materials such as textbooks, but also all materials such as exercise books, pens, coloring boxes and laptops. In addition, school buses should be free of charge. In addition, free services such as homework assistance and tutoring should be provided by the school. This will ensure that a child's socioeconomic background does not determine whether he or she can take advantage of specialized tutoring or more general care and help with homework. In this respect, Germany should take its cue from countries such as Estonia, where there is a high level of equality or equity of opportunity despite low spending on education.
For further reading and discussion:
https://www.gew.de/privatisierung-lobbyismus/lernmittelfreiheit/schule-und-lernmittelfreiheit/
https://deutsches-schulportal.de/expertenstimmen/estland-reise-ins-digital-wunderland/
Despite some welcome changes through the 2019 BAföG amendment, the current BAföG rates are still not enough to live on. The constant price increases and inflation must also be reflected in a continuous, annual adjustment of BAföG. The BAföG basic needs rate must be adjusted to the reality of students' lives and increased from 427 euros to at least 500 euros. Furthermore, the allowances must be increased to enable more students to receive BAföG. The current age limit of 30 years must be adapted to the era of lifelong learning and raised by at least five years. The maximum funding period, which is still based on the standard period of study, but within which only 46 percent of students actually complete their studies, must be extended by at least one semester.
For further reading and discussion:
https://www.bafoeg-rechner.de/Hintergrund/art-2178-bafoeg-2019-2020-2021.php#was-fehlt
§ Increase of the BAföG basic requirement rate
§ Right to education and access to mainstream school Children and young people with refugee experience
The right to education ensures the basic conditions for social participation and free personal development. The central guarantee of this right is found at the universal level in Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICCPR)13 ICCPR and Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In German law, equal participation in the state education system is part of the principle of the welfare state covered by Article 1 (1) of the Basic Law in conjunction with Article 20 (1) of the Basic Law. As a human right, access to the educational institutions of the respective state is to be granted in principle irrespective of residence status, which means that asylum-seeking minors have in principle the same right to education as nationals and in this respect are to be treated in principle equally. Art. 14 para. 1 and, para. 2 of the European Union Reception Directive (Reception Directive) require that minor children of asylum-seekers and minor asylum-seekers be granted access to the education system "in a manner similar to that of their own nationals" no later than three months after the asylum application has been lodged, as long as no deportation measure is enforced against them or their parents. The children and adolescents concerned are in principle entitled to access to the regular school system. Adjustments are possible only in the modalities of access, which may justify, for example, pre-education class rankings, language learning and performance assessments, or temporary schooling in welcome or language learning classes. Article 14 (1) sentence 2 of the Reception Directive, according to which education can also take place in accommodation centers, is to be interpreted restrictively and allows temporary education in reception centers only if this is necessary and proportionate for reasons of the asylum procedure and the education offered can be regarded as reasonably equivalent in scope and quality to education in the regular school system. Segregated schooling for a longer period, i.e. beyond six months or longer, can only be considered proportionate in exceptional cases.- The three-month period of Art. 14 para. 2 sentence 1 Reception Directive, within which effective access to the education system in the host country must be ensured, is unconditional according to the wording and - apart from Art. 14 para. 3 Reception Directive - does not permit any exceptions. The Länder regulate the implementation of this legal provision very differently, often without complying with the three-month requirement. A referral of the issue to the Bundestag for equal access for all people regardless of the federal state is therefore relevant.
For further reading and discussion:
Students under the age of 18 can participate in demonstrations and in this way exercise their fundamental right. Participation in demonstrations should also be considered part of young people's political education. However, it is currently unclear to what extent they are allowed to do so during school hours. In 1973, the Conference of Länder Ministers of Education took a clear position on this issue in the - legally non-binding - statement "On the position of the pupil in school": "Participation in demonstrations does not justify absence from lessons or any other interference with lessons. The right to demonstrate may be exercised during non-instructional time." The right to strike is also a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution. In principle, the right to strike is also covered by the collective freedom of association protected in Article 9 of the Basic Law. The catch for striking students is that the right to strike, which is standardized in Article 9 of the Basic Law, only applies to industrial action taken by organized employees against employers. A "right to strike", i.e. a right to collective absence from lessons for entire groups of pupils or classes, does not exist in German law. However, young people should be granted a clear right to demonstrate and strike during school hours.
For further reading and discussion:
http://www.kinderrecht-ratgeber.de/kinderrecht/schulrecht/streik.html
§ Right to strike and demonstrate for students
§ Children's rights in the Basic Law for more opportunities for participation
Participation is an essential pillar of the education concept Education for Sustainable Development and is crucial for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Children's rights, participation and democracy must be lived and learned. To this end, kindergartens and schools must already become more democratic, and young people must be given the space to become more politically involved. The current discussion about children's rights in the Basic Law is an opportunity to include this possibility of participation in Article 6 of the Basic Law. The present draft bill of the Federal Government (printed matter 19/28138) does not take into account the necessary sustainability aspects and will not be able to significantly strengthen children's rights. In addition, the Basic Law falls short of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Germany ratified back in 1992. Children's rights must be strengthened by supplementing Article 6 of the Basic Law. A further development takes into account the children's and young people's ability to self-determine and participate, as already fundamentally laid down in Section 8 of Book VIII of the Social Code with regard to youth welfare, and the child's explicit right to the promotion of his or her development. A further development of Article 6 of the Basic Law must guarantee the protection of children, their right to the promotion of their development, their right to participation and the primacy of the best interests of the child. The draft law must be further developed and revised as follows: In paragraph 1, children shall be explicitly included. In paragraph 2, the words "with respect for their personality and their growing independence" shall be inserted after the word "children". After paragraph 4, it is particularly crucial for participation opportunities that paragraph 4a be inserted: "(4a) Every child has the right to the promotion of his or her development. In all matters affecting the child, he or she shall be involved in accordance with age and maturity; the will and best interests of the child shall be given decisive consideration."
For further reading and information:
https://www.stiftungbildung.org/70-jahre-grundgesetz-stellungnahme/
https://www.stiftungbildung.org/bildung-fuer-nachhaltige-entwicklung/