Starting Opportunities Program: Reactions vary between “real breakthrough” and “drop in the ocean”

Enlarge image

Press conference to introduce the StartChances program: “The largest and most long-term educational program in the history of the Federal Republic”

Photo:

Britta Pedersen/dpa

Those responsible spoke of a "long, sometimes rocky road," but on Friday they reached the finish line: After months of negotiations, the federal and state governments finally agreed on the traffic light coalition's largest prestige project in the education sector, the "Starting Opportunities Program." Opinions on this vary widely.

Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) sees it as “the largest and most long-term educational program in the history of the Federal Republic.” She is largely responsible for the program. “We are providing impetus for a more modern and efficient education system and renewing the promise of advancement,” said Stark-Watzinger.

Around 4,000 schools with a high proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students are to be supported. The federal government wants to invest one billion euros annually. The states should contribute equally. In total, this would be around 20 billion euros over a period of ten years. Read details here. The reactions are mixed.

»The StartChances program was announced to us as a panacea for all educational problems and ends up being a drop in the ocean. A quarter of children and young people no longer achieve the minimum standards in basic skills, but only one in eleven students will even benefit from the StartChances program. That's not enough."

Daniela Ludwig, rapporteur for school education for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group

»We have designed something that we believe can really make a difference. And we have shown: educational federalism works.«

Karin Prien, Minister of Education of Schleswig-Holstein (CDU)

»We managed to distribute part of the money according to the social index. This is a real breakthrough compared to the past. Finally, some of the money can be used specifically where it is needed most: in poor urban districts and regions. However, the StartChances program only reaches around ten percent of all students. However, a good 20 percent of children and young people are poor or at risk of poverty.«

Maike Finnern, Chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW)

»It would be necessary to expand the program to at least half of the schools. [That would be ten billion euros per year instead of the previously planned two billion euros from the federal and state governments combined, the editorial team said.] The financing would undoubtedly be a feat of strength, but our economy as a whole would benefit from it.

Saskia Esken, chairwoman of the SPD

»The goal of halving the proportion of students who do not achieve the minimum standards in mathematics and German within ten years is ambitious. The path is demanding, the goal is clearly formulated with a key figure. This is unusual and courageous for German education policy.«

Markus Warnke, Managing Director of the Wübben Foundation for Education

»We are currently experiencing an epidemic of mental problems in our schools. One in five students is dissatisfied with their life, and a quarter suffer from psychological problems. The staffing level in this area is catastrophic. The Start Chances program can help here. In general, the program is a small step in the right direction. We are in a deep educational crisis. The StartChances program alone will not be able to get us out of there.

Florian Fabricius, Secretary General of the Federal Student Conference

»So that more students actually meet the minimum requirements in reading, writing and arithmetic in ten years, the state government must above all ensure that more teachers are deployed where the challenges are particularly great. Money alone does not provide lessons. We also need additional educational specialists at short notice.«

Jochen Ott, SPD parliamentary group leader in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament

»Mrs Stark-Watzinger's Starting Opportunities program does not solve the schools' pressing problems. If the children come to school and cannot speak German, then it is not enough to build a parents' café or a library. What is urgently needed is a mandatory preschool program for children in need of support in their fifth year of life.

Thomas Jarzombek, education and research policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group

fok/dpa