From the next school year there will be innovations for Berlin daycare centers and schools: an eleventh year of compulsory schooling is planned for students who do not yet have a training place or other career prospects at the end of the tenth grade. The Berlin Senate launched the legislative package on Tuesday; after it has been discussed again in the Senate and passed in the House of Representatives, it is scheduled to come into force on August 1st.
The subject of the amended school law is also a “Kita-Chancesjahr”, i.e. a mandatory preschool year: Children who do not speak German properly and have not previously been looked after in a daycare center must attend a daycare center or comparable language support offers from independent providers at least one year before school .
The parents' wishes are no longer relevant
The change in the law, which the Senate initially forwarded to the Council of Mayors, also provides for stricter rules for the transition of students from elementary school to high school. The average grade, which automatically gives students a recommendation for high school, is to be determined on a new basis.
If children with an insufficient grade point average and without a corresponding recommendation still want to attend a high school from the 7th grade, they must prove that they are suitable for this through a trial lesson. The parents' wishes should no longer be decisive in this context. The previous probationary year in the seventh grade for these students is no longer required.
The planned changes have been discussed for several months. Parents and opposition politicians fear that this could increase the pressure in primary schools, reported the RBB.
Strengthening religious education
The black-red Senate also wants to use the law to strengthen faith-based religious education. It is stated that religious communities have the right to offer such lessons. Schools should be obliged to ask parents whether they want their children to take part in religious or ideological lessons.
sun/dpa