While the German education system is once again under scrutiny after the Pisa shock in December, Hamburg is considered a positive exception among the federal states – in contrast to Bremen and Berlin, the other two city states. That things are going much better in Hamburg than in the rest of the republic, is often attributed to the term of Ties Rabe (SPD) as Hamburg’s education senator. After 13 years, Rabe announced his resignation in January for health reasons.
“The fact that I am so tired after 13 years as education senator is also due to the fact that forces in the school system are resisting changes with enormous resistance,” Rabe explained on Monday in an interview with Nicola Brandt, head of the OECD office in Berlin Resignation in front of several education journalists who were involved.
During the corona pandemic, Rabe warned in vain about school closings for a long time. He and his colleagues in the education ministries were deeply shocked when teachers and parents’ associations spoke out in favor of school closures. “Germany treated children and young people particularly ruthlessly during the pandemic,” summarized Rabe, referring to the international comparison.
Germany has been particularly reckless with children and young people during the pandemic.
Ties Rabeformer school senator from Hamburg, about the educational institutions in the Hanseatic city
He also had to struggle with resistance when he pushed through in Hamburg that more basic skills were taught in the core subjects. It took three years to establish that Students must read 20 minutes per day in class. It was just as difficult to focus on spelling instead of literary analysis in German lessons. There was a lack of understanding, especially from parents and teachers’ associations close to education. It was only when Hamburg climbed from 13th to 8th place in the country ranking of the IQB Education Trend 2021 in spelling skills after five years that its critics fell silent.
Hardly any books in many Hamburg households
It was a matter close to his heart to curb the growing educational inequality. An immense challenge, as Rabe illustrates with reference to statistics: 40 percent of Hamburg students find fewer than ten books in their households, 30 percent of Hamburg students speak little or no German at home. Rabe therefore “doesn’t believe that the school system has gotten any worse. “But the school system cannot keep up with the dramatically increased number and quality of challenges it is exposed to.”
141
School reforms According to Rabe’s own statements, he implemented this in his 13 years in office
He tried to counteract this with 141 school reforms during his time in office. Not only was the curriculum changed so that basic skills became more important. Rabe also introduced the voluntary all-day program, which is currently used by 85 percent of primary school students. Here, too, education-oriented parents, whom Rabe clearly worked on, initially had concerns because they saw their children’s extracurricular leisure program restricted. He comments pointedly: “I had the impression that some people were more concerned with gender toilets and healthy eating than with a fairer education.” This is made possible through all-day schools: “More learning time accommodates students who attend remedial classes in the afternoon. If all the children are at school, this is easier to implement.”
But even though Rabe is primarily committed to helping children from educationally disadvantaged families, he is aware that not all children are supported to the same extent. “If I were in office for another 10 years, I would start offering individual support lessons for all students.” Not just for those who are behind in learning, but for everyone.
Plea for data-supported school development
In order to be as accurately informed as possible about the performance level of Hamburg’s students, Rabe introduced state-internal comparison work. Every year, all students in Hamburg in grades two, three, five, seven, eight and nine take exams in basic skills. The work is evaluated by students, so it is not the burden of the teachers. The school authorities communicate the results to the schools and offer advice if the results are poor.
In most schools the spirit has returned: we want to get better.
Ties Rabe, Ex-school senator from Hamburg, about the educational institutions in the Hanseatic city
Because the schools did not have to fear sanctions, the protests against data collection from teachers quickly evaporated and led to a rethink: “In most schools the spirit has returned: we want to get better,” says Rabe, not without pride. You can now see at class level where things are going well and where action needs to be taken. In many other countries, schools do not have this insight, says Rabe – and he certainly means Berlin too.
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However, Rabe cannot avoid mentioning a decisive advantage that Hamburg enjoys over Berlin: there is no shortage of teachers in the Hanseatic city. Rabe fears that this will change because teachers from the baby boomers of the early 1960s are approaching retirement. Nevertheless, there is currently not a single teacher missing in Hamburg, although the number of students in Hamburg has increased by 25 percent to around 260,000 students in the last ten years. Despite all the data collection, Rabe cannot explain why this is the case, the resigned education senator freely admits.
2024-02-19 22:54:42
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