Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The Education and Education Association (VBE) has reacted suspiciously to the state government of Baden-Württemberg’s plans to purchase laptops for teachers. In a statement released on Tuesday, the association doubted that the financial resources were adequate.
The Ministry of Education announced earlier this week that the federal government is financing the project with an infusion of 65 million euros. Funds are transferred to school authorities in an uncomplicated manner and without the application process, so that teachers can be equipped with computers as quickly as possible. In total, Berlin is providing federal states with 500 million euros to equip schools with teachers’ laptops.
“65 million euros looks like a lot of money at first. However, there is no specific information on how much money the school administration receives for each device,” said Oliver Hintzen, VBE State Vice President in the letter. According to the association’s calculations, 650 euros per full-time teacher will be provided. This is a “very tight budget”. Especially since not only the device, but also high-performance hardware and software for digital teaching must be purchased.
According to the information, the VBE also assumes that computers are not equally available to all teachers. More than half of the teachers in Baden-Württemberg are employed part-time. “Depending on the scope of employment, many of these teachers are required to share a laptop computer according to the new agreement between the federal and state governments,” Hintzen is also quoted in the newspaper. This cannot work in practice.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210202-99-273856 / 2
