Right-wing extremist incidents at school – ministry promises help for teachers

From BZ/dpa

A letter from teachers about right-wing incidents at a school in the Spreewald also caused a nationwide sensation. The future Minister of Education in Brandenburg is making an appeal to teachers. How is right-wing extremism dealt with in schools?

After right-wing extremist incidents at a school became known, Brandenburg’s designated education minister Steffen Freiberg (SPD) promised teachers support and appealed not to hide problems at the schools. “I encourage everyone if they are having difficulties to get in touch. Often it has to do with shame when people don’t express themselves,” he told the “Märkische Oderzeitung” (Saturday). “The first step to breaking free is to talk about it. A fire letter is certainly not the best solution.”

At the same time he said about the incidents: “The problem is not a surprise.” The researcher Heike Radvan demanded that the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) deal more with right-wing extremism in schools, especially in East Germany.

Confronted with hate and extremism on a daily basis

In an anonymous letter, teachers at a school in Burg im Spreewald complained that they were confronted with right-wing extremism, sexism and homophobia on a daily basis. Among other things, it is about swastikas on furniture, right-wing extremist music in the classroom and anti-democratic slogans in the school corridors. They also experienced a “wall of silence,” the letter said. The teachers complained that there was a lack of support from school administrations, school authorities and politicians.

The right-wing extremism researcher does not consider the incidents in Brandenburg to be an isolated case. Right-wing incidents are not a new phenomenon in schools, but have been known for many years, said the scientist at the Brandenburg Technical University (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg of the German Press Agency.

The Conference of Ministers of Education must take a closer look and develop an intervention strategy. “First of all, you have to recognize that right-wing extremism is a big problem.” School social work as an answer is important, but not thought of enough on its own, especially since school social workers need specific knowledge and skills for this.

It remained unclear whether the KMK, which Berlin is chairing this year, will deal with it. Berlin’s new Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU) is to officially take office on Friday.

Strongholds of the AfD

According to researcher Radvan, right-wing extremism is particularly noticeable in eastern Germany, where democratic civil society is weaker than in the west. “Right-wing groups are trying to dominate individual urban societies,” she said, also referring to southern Brandenburg. There is a growing right-wing extremist scene there. The AfD has its strongholds there.

According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, right-wing extremism in Brandenburg has grown slightly in the past year and has almost reached the previous record number of supporters.

When asked about the causes, the expert also refers to the way parents pass on attitudes to their children. “The parents of these young people are the generation of NSU perpetrators and the generation that experienced the baseball bat years and is also responsible for them.” This refers to the years after the reunification, in which right-wing violence escalated in the east.

The Greens member of the state parliament Heiner Klemp also sees the districts and school managements as having a duty. “It cannot be that schools become fearful areas,” he told RBB Inforadio. He rejects a constitutional check for teachers. The check does not prevent teachers from looking the other way in right-wing incidents, but only shows which people have been noticed as right-wing extremists. Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) is planning a constitutional check for civil servants – including teachers.

The students of the Trade Union for Education and Science (GEW) in Brandenburg called for the teachers to be relieved and showed their solidarity with the authors of the anonymous letter. “As GEW, we have long been demanding an appropriate response to the shortage of skilled workers in schools and multi-professional teams,” they said. The pedagogical specialists should be relieved by school social workers, for example.

At their party conference on Saturday, the Brandenburg Greens called for at least 215 additional school assistants to be created for multi-professional teams in schools, for example for social work and psychology.

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