Yesterday, Friday, August 30, the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, made a concrete offer to the federal states as school authorities for further support within the framework. Digital Pact School According to the minister, the federal government is ready to contribute 2.5 billion euros to the program over a five-year period starting next year, on the condition that the states pay for 50 percent of the cost of the digital education infrastructure. The way forward is to be discussed at a special meeting of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) of the states on Monday next week.
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The IT and telecommunications industry association Bitkom eV welcomed the minister’s announcement in a statement. The association’s president, Dr. Ralf Wintergerst, emphasized that the federal government had only just specified its proposal for the Digital Pact 2.0 “after much hesitation”. “Schools and school authorities finally need planning protection,” said Wintergerst.
The ball is now in the court of the federal states, said the association’s president: “The federal government is surrendering, now the states are called. We are appealing to the federal states to also provide 2.5 billion euros for digitalisation. The schools’ hanging game has already lasted for two years. The federal states now have the opportunity and the obligation to clear the way for the Digital Pact 2.0.”
The Digital Pact for Schools is based on a joint declaration of intention by the federal government and the Bundestag in 2018 to promote digitalisation in general schools with an amount of 5 billion euros. The declared form of cooperation between the federal and state governments is believed to have been finally decided to be revised in 2019 with the approval of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat Article 104C of the German Basic Law. “Administrative Agreement Digital Pact School 2019 to 2024” (archived PDF) It finally came into effect on August 19, 2020. In the same year, funding was increased by 1.5 billion euros in view of the Covid pandemic.
The federal and state governments have long been arguing over the distribution of tasks and burdens in the digitalization of schools. In addition, fundamental criticism of the creation of the digital agreement was repeatedly raised. In many cases, this was based on a lack of commitment on the part of the states and a lack of control options on the part of the federal government. In mid-2021, only €852 million of federal funds, which had grown to €6.5 billion by that time, had been accessed. In its audit report in 2022, the Federal Audit Office even recommended that the federal government not extend the treaty. In 2023, the European Court of Auditors also criticized the inefficient use of funds, referring to the subsidies provided by the EU for the digital agreement.
(PSZ)
