After the traumatic experiences with the spelling reform, the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) established the Council for German Spelling to ensure the uniformity of spelling for administration and schools in German-speaking countries.
But the authority of the Council, which last spring expressly decided against gendered spellings with colons, asterisks (asterisks) et cetera, seems to be waning.
After Baden-Württemberg gave schools the freedom to allow gender symbols in class tests and exams, Lower Saxony also dropped out of the KMK's spelling consensus.
Heike Schmoll
Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for “Bildungswelten”.
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"Due to multiple inquiries, we would like to clarify that gendered texts (e.g. students) in the most diverse spellings are not Duden-compliant, but are not counted as errors in Abitur examinations," says a statement from the Lower Saxony cultural bureaucracy.
The chairman of the Council for German spelling, Josef Lange, pointed out to the FAZ that the set of rules was decided by the state authorities and is binding for schools and administration.
“When a country says goodbye to the official set of rules, it also says goodbye to the uniformity of spelling in the German-speaking area”, which is a throwback to the time before 1903. Different spellings with special characters do not meet the criteria that the Council set with regard to comprehensibility , readability and portability.
"If government agencies don't stick to the rules they have decided on themselves," criticizes Lange, "how should students and citizens be taught that government rules are binding in the community?"
The Lower Saxony Ministry of Culture has defended its approach to the FAZ, citing the KMK's guidelines for ensuring equal opportunities from 2016, which mention gender-sensitive formulations.
The Ministry of Culture has made it clear to the regional state offices for schools and education that gendered texts are not provided for in the official regulations, but should not be considered errors.
"The linguistic debate about gender-equitable language, which often merges seamlessly into an ideological debate, should not be carried out on the backs of the examinees," the ministry told the FAZ.
Binding "in the school context is and remains the official set of rules issued by the Council for German Spelling," it affirms at the same time.
In other countries, violations of language norms are dealt with more clearly: With reference to the Council for German Spelling, Schleswig-Holstein evaluates gender spellings with internal special characters as spelling mistakes in class tests and exams.