Start for Mandatory Summer School: This is What Will Apply Starting Next Year

In the summer of 2026, only the participation of children from German support classes or those who were admitted as extraordinary students in the summer semester will be mandatory. It is not until 2027 that children in German support courses will also be included.

Gradual Rollout for Mandatory Summer School

The summer school was originally introduced in 2020 to support children and adolescents with learning deficits due to the pandemic. Since 2022, the offer has also been open to students with special interests and talents, with a total of 41,100 having used it recently. The government program stipulated that extraordinary students - those who do not speak German well enough to follow the lessons - should be obliged to attend. This would have been around 48,000 children in 2025 (slightly fewer in the current school year, note). Of this group, "only" around 7,900 participated voluntarily. Since the voluntary offer is to remain, around 40,000 additional places would likely be needed. This would mean doubling the number of places.

"For organizational reasons," the obligation will now be rolled out gradually. In the first year, the obligation only affects students in German support classes (recently around 26,000), and only in the second year will it also include those in German support courses (recently just under 23,000). The regulations on group or course sizes in the summer school are to be abolished - instead, the school authority must submit data on group planning to the Ministry of Education before the summer school is conducted and documents on the actual average group size afterwards. Criticism of the staggered start comes from the Greens: "The Education Minister has obviously once again prioritized grand PR over serious planning - with the consequence that he now has to shrink the mandatory summer school," said education spokeswoman Sigrid Maurer in a statement.

New German Support

Furthermore, the draft law (consultation period: December 5) also includes the recently presented additional changes in German language support. Among other things, instead of mandatory support in separate classes or groups, school-autonomous models for learning German within the class setting should also be possible. Additionally, instead of two mandatory MIKA-D tests for language proficiency assessment, there will only be one at the end of the summer semester.

To avoid career path losses, it should also be possible, through a promotion clause, to allow students with "insufficient" German skills according to MIKA-D to attend the next higher class. Currently, only students without a need for German support can advance to the next grade level with a failing grade if the school conference believes that due to good results in other subjects, they will be able to follow the lessons in the next higher class well. This should also apply when transitioning from primary school to middle school. Additionally, extraordinary students should be able to receive grades in subjects not related to German support in the future.

Changes in School-Related Events and Replacement Exam Date

Apart from German language support, the planned amendment brings some administrative changes. For simplification, it should be possible for the minister to declare nationwide or cross-state events, such as the Chemistry Olympiad, as school-related events for all participating schools. Currently, only the school itself or the education directorate can do this.

The determination of a replacement exam date should also be facilitated in cases such as a flood or blackout. Currently, there are regulations for individual cases, such as a sudden illness of candidates during the exam or a failure of their digital device, allowing them to retake the exam at the same date. These regulations should remain. Additionally, a paragraph will be created to regulate the procedure in cases affecting a larger number of candidates, entire school locations, or multiple school locations during the exam. The education directorate should be responsible for setting a replacement date, and for written exams, they must reach an agreement with the Ministry of Education.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.