Thousands Protest in Berlin Against Dilapidated Schools and Teacher Shortage

Berlin. The marathon runners who found themselves in an unexpected crowd at the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday morning seemed irritated. Athletes from Hong Kong, Argentina and Brazil wanted to prepare for the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, but now they suddenly found themselves standing between school children with cardboard signs, outraged parents, teachers in union vests and young people with flags for revolution and socialism.

In Berlin and other cities, the GEW education union, in alliance with 170 organizations, called for nationwide demonstrations for better education. According to the organizers there were 7,000 people, according to the police 4,500, who marched through the city center to the Red Town Hall.

The “Education must be different” alliance has four demands Petition addressed to the federal government and as of Saturday, more than 90,000 signatures had been collected: a special fund for education and sufficient funding for daycare centers and schools, a training offensive for teachers and educators in sustainable and inclusive schools, and an education summit “at eye level”.

“If we don’t advance education, I worry about the future”

Participants in the demonstration described what the educational misery means. For example, teacher Luise Duda, who moved from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania to a community school in Pankow a few weeks ago: “I notice that the school system in Berlin is even worse off.” Antje Piel from Pankow was at the demonstration as a mother of school children . The dilapidated high school at the Europasportpark recently made headlines with windows falling out and other defects. Only after a long protest was a renovation carried out.

“We have had mice running through our classrooms and even across our tables for years,” reported a teacher from Neukölln. There has been no basic hygienic cleaning at her school for years due to ongoing renovation work. The school is also located in a drug hotspot, “now security has been cut, social services and youth care are missing or being cut.”

Teachers and parents also came from better-off neighborhoods. “I can’t understand why we don’t invest in education,” said Imke Decius from the Steglitz-Zehlendorf district parents’ committee. “If we don’t advance the education and training of the next generations now, I’ll be worried – about the economy, about social peace and about democracy.”