Parliament approves permanent dedication for extensive school merger as standard practice - Legislative body endorses flexibility in length of real-main school collaboration
North Rhine-Westphalia's State Parliament Approves Permanent Real-Comprehensive School Combination
Realschoolen in North Rhine-Westphalia will have the option to establish a Hauptschule branch from grade 7, according to a school law amendment passed by the State Parliament. The roll-call vote saw 93 members in favor, while 60 voted against.
The integrated Hauptschule program will primarily be approved when a public Hauptschule is not easily accessible. School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) stated that the number of remaining Hauptschulen in North Rhine-Westphalia has been stable for some time.
The opposition parties, SPD, FDP, and AfD, had announced their intention to reject the amendment, criticizing it for lacking resources, a pedagogical concept, and societal debate. The SPD believes it weakens students in the Hauptschule branch, while the FDP views it as the start of a uniform model that threatens to overwhelm Realschulen.
The controversy revolves around differing views regarding educational structure and implications for school diversity and quality. The opposition parties see permanence as limiting school diversity and parental choice, or undermining traditional educational standards, while the governing coalition views it as a modernization.
Additionally, the school law amendment extends regulations for Islamic religious education until 2031. This allows Islamic religious education to continue in cooperation with Islamic organizations, even if they are not recognized as religious communities under the Basic Law and the state constitution. The FDP has criticized this provision and calls for compulsory ethics classes for all students who do not participate in denominational religious education.
The Real-Comprehensive School Combination has been a subject of ongoing debates in German states about secondary education structure. It reflects tensions between traditional tripartite systems and comprehensive models aiming to reduce early student tracking. As the controversy continues, the education system in North Rhine-Westphalia remains a highly political issue.
- The passage of the school law amendment in North Rhine-Westphalia's State Parliament has sparked debates on education policy, as it allows Realschulen to establish a Hauptschule branch, a move that the opposition parties criticize for lacking resources and a pedagogical concept, while the governing coalition views it as a modernization.
- Beyond the Real-Comprehensive School Combination, the school law amendment also extends regulations for Islamic religious education until 2031, a decision that has raised concerns about the prospect of compulsory ethics classes for students who do not participate in denominational religious education, highlighting policy-and-legislation and education-and-self-development as key issues in the politics of general-news.
