Denominational school

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a parochial school or denominational school is in Germany referred to a school where the students according to the principles of Christian faith are taught. The constitutional basis for this is Article 7 Paragraph 4 and 5 of the Basic Law .

Originally there was a total admission restriction for " non-confessional " students. Most schools have now opened up to students of other faiths, and religious instruction is often given to the other denomination ( Roman Catholic or Protestant , and occasionally also Islamic religious instruction ). In denominational schools, participation in religious education is usually mandatory. At state-sponsored public denominational schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, children who are baptized in the school confession must be given preference if there are more registrations than places at such a school.

Historical development

The origins of the school system were closely linked to the churches and therefore denominational from the start. As part of the Kulturkampf , schools have been under state school inspection found, but still in the Weimar Republic there were regional differences, both faith schools and community schools (also called "simultaneous schools considered ').

In 1927 - at that time the Marx IV cabinet ruled - the Center Party submitted the draft of a new school law which provided for the equality of denominational schools with community schools. According to Article 146 of the Reich Constitution , precedence was given to cross-denominational community schools over schools for children of individual denominations. The BVP and the DNVP supported this draft; the German People's Party was strictly against it . The center in particular attached great importance to the school issue. Neither side gave in on the question. On February 15, 1928, the failure of the bill was declared. This meant the end of the coalition. Reich President Paul von Hindenburg dissolved the Reichstag a few weeks later and ordered a Reichstag election for May 20, 1928 .

Under National Socialist rule , the “German Community School” became a regular school, but Article 23 of the Reich Concordat of 1933 also guaranteed the retention and establishment of Catholic denominational schools under international law. However, this was undermined by the National Socialist government.

In the post-war years there were violent political disputes in many federal states as to which of the first two types of school should constitute the “constitutional regular school” (see also cleavage theory ). Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony set up denominational denominational schools as state primary schools with equal rights. After the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Reich Concordat retained its validity, but the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in the Concordat judgment in 1957 that the federal states were not allowed to be bound by the school provisions of the Concordat when drawing up state school law. In view of the increasing confessional intermingling and the decline of religious ties, at the end of the 1960s almost all German federal states in which denominational schools still existed abolished them as regular schools in favor of Christian community schools. When the community school was introduced as a regular school instead of the denominational schools in Lower Saxony in 1954 , resistance from the Catholic Church was great; In the mid-1960s, however, the political pressure to abolish them increased, so that in 1967 in Baden-Württemberg (there were only denominational schools on only part of the national territory) and Rhineland-Palatinate and in 1968 in Bavaria, despite protests, denominational schools were decided to be in community schools to convert. At the same time, on the Catholic side, the Church's right to education changed in the course of the Second Vatican Council . The competence of the state in matters of education was recognized. The German Catholic Church no longer adhered to the state denominational school as a regular school. Only in North Rhine-Westphalia and parts of Lower Saxony do denominational primary schools represent an equal, locally even dominant type of school alongside the community primary school .

Forms today

Publicly sponsored denominational schools

In two German federal states, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony , there are denominational schools as state schools run by political communities . It is financed entirely from state funds; the religious communities do not participate in the costs.

Lower Saxony

Section 129 (1) of the Lower Saxony School Act stipulates: "At the request oflegal guardians, public primary schools are to be established for pupils of the same creed." This regulation leads to Article 6 of the "Concordatbetween theHoly Chairand the State of Lower Saxony" of February 26th 1965, in which it says: "The country guarantees the maintenance and new establishment of Catholic denominational schools."

Previously, the Lower Saxony state parliament had declared the “Christian community school” to be a regular school in 1954, albeit with exceptions for the area of ​​the former state of Oldenburg . Until the new Lower Saxony constitution of 1993, there were only denominational schools in the primary schools. In the 2005/2006 school year, 128 of the 1760 primary schools in the state of Lower Saxony were state primary schools for Catholic children and 7 for Protestant children.

According to the Lower Saxony School Act, up to 30% of the pupils at a school may be “non-religious”. However, since an amendment to the law of July 17, 2012, exceptions can be made to this regulation so that schools can accept a higher proportion of non-denominational children without questioning the denominational status of the school ( Section 129, Paragraph 3 and Section 157, Paragraph 1 ). 1 NSchG). Until a new regulation in July 2011, the maximum rate was 20%, originally 10%. In fact, the proportion of “non-denominational students” in public Catholic denominational schools in the Oldenburger Münsterland is up to 60 percent. Denominational schools can be converted into community schools with the votes of the majority of the legal guardians ( Section 135 (5 ) NSchG). School principals do not have to belong to the school confession in Lower Saxony.

In the town of Lohne in the district of Vechta , the concordat regulation meant that by July 2010 six out of seven primary schools were Catholic denominational schools under the authority of the town. With effect from August 1, 2010, the only school for students of all denominations was closed due to a lack of registrations. Since the 2010/2011 school year, all wage-earning children of primary school age have been attending Catholic denominational schools, although only 66 percent of the wage-earning population are Catholic. An application to transform the Lohner elementary schools into schools for pupils of all confessions was rejected by the majority of parents in all schools in October 2015.

In the city of Vechta , where similar conditions can be found, an application was made to convert three denominational schools into schools for students of all denominations. In a vote on December 15, 2008, the two-thirds majority of Catholic parents required at that time was achieved in only one of three schools, although the mayor and the council of the city of Vechta as well as representatives of the Bishop's Office of Münster had previously spoken out in favor of the conversion. In 2018, the attempt to persuade a majority of parents in Vechta to vote for the revocation of the denominational school status of the school their children attend failed again. Mayor Gels rated the hurdles as "too high", as non-participation in the vote must be treated as a "no", which is an unusual rule. More people had voted for than against the conversion. The voting took place between September 17 and 28, 2018.

North Rhine-Westphalia

In North Rhine-Westphalia the confessional school has constitutional status. In Article 12, Paragraph 3, Clause 2 of the North Rhine-Westphalian Constitution, it says: "In denominational schools, children of the Catholic or Protestant faith or another religious community are educated and educated according to the principles of the respective creed." Section 26, Paragraph 6 of the School Act stipulates: "Teachers at denominational schools must belong to the relevant denomination and be willing to teach and educate at these schools." Since a school law reform in April 2015, exceptions to the confessional commitment have been possible: Since then, non-denominational teachers have been able to "adhere to." Securing teaching ”at state denominational schools. However, the position of the school management is still confessional. Exceptions have already been made here, too: In 2018, Protestant teachers in Gladbeck and Borken were allowed to take over the management of a denominational primary school. In particular, the exception regulation that has been standardized since the school law was changed has been criticized according to which the requirement of commitment for teachers and school management violates the General Equal Treatment Act for lack of justification. It is also new that "religious instruction that does not correspond to the respective school confession can be offered if there is a need (12 children) and the supply of teachers can be guaranteed". For a conversion to community elementary schools , the votes of the parents of more than half of all pupils are required ( Section 27 (3 ) SchulG). Until March 2015, this conversion hurdle was two thirds. The state parliament also decided that “schoolchildren may not be forced to attend school church services at denominational schools, although their parents expressly and unanimously wish when registering that their child should be taught and brought up according to the principles of the denomination taught at the school. "

In March 2016, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia confirmed a ruling by the Administrative Court of Aachen, according to which children belonging to the denomination have a priority right to admission to public denominational primary schools. According to the resolution, the only decisive factor here is the formal religious affiliation of a child (usually baptism in the corresponding denomination), but not a declaration by the parents that they wish to be taught and educated in the denomination.

In the 2018/19 school year, 808 of 2,781 primary schools were Roman Catholic and 88 Protestant; there were also two Jewish denominational primary schools, one Mennonite and one ideology school. Of the 243 secondary schools, 25 were Roman Catholic and 5 Protestant. In the 2012/13 school year there were only denominational primary schools in 75 municipalities.

Since the school year 2008/2009, the abolition of school districts by the state government has led in individual cases to children from the immediate vicinity of denominational primary schools there being rejected in favor of “confessional children” away from home. In Bonn , where 21 out of 50 primary schools were denominational schools at the time, a citizens' initiative was formed in March 2009 that initially campaigned for easier conversion of denominational schools into community schools and, since 2013, has called for the conversion of all public denominational schools into community primary schools . In 2012 and 2013, five Catholic primary schools in Cologne alone were converted by parents into community primary schools, mostly because otherwise the headmaster positions could not have been filled for religious reasons.

Confession schools in private ownership

Most denominational schools are Catholic ; but there are also many evangelicals and a few others, e.g. B. Confession schools of the Seventh-day Adventists (around 8,500 schools worldwide, 10 of them in Germany). Independent Protestant denominational schools have been set up in around 90 locations in Germany since 1973.

Evangelical denominational schools in Germany (2007)

In 2011, at parochial schools about 475,000 students in different types of schools, from primary schools through primary and secondary schools to high schools , teaches. The largest part of denominational schools are church-sponsored: 674 Catholic schools with approx. 327,000 students, approx. 115,000 students attend one of the 541 Protestant denominational schools . The 92 independent religious schools had around 33,000 students in 2011.

The schools are under the supervision of the school authorities and, as a rule, convey the content of the educational plans of the public schools as substitute schools . In accordance with the country-specific cultural legislation, institutions approved as substitute schools are financially supported. As a rule, 50 to 60% of the costs incurred can be covered by this. The school fees charged are mostly graded according to the income of the parents. Many schools have reduced tuition fees. Additional funding is provided through donations. The schools are usually run by non-profit associations .

Catholic denominational schools

According to the declaration of the bishops of North Rhine-Westphalia on October 30, 1985, children are educated and brought up in denominational schools in accordance with Article 12, Paragraph 3, Clause 2 of the state constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia according to the principles of the denomination to which they belong. In this sense, the applicable guidelines and curricula are also applied. For Catholic denominational schools, the establishment of the principles is the responsibility of the Catholic Church. The principles were last defined in 2013. The corresponding regulation is based on the conditions that existed earlier, when no “non-denominationalists” were accepted in Catholic denominational schools.

Evangelical denominational schools

The most important independent organizations of schools of Protestant denomination in Germany are the Protestant regional churches . In the “new” federal states , they are the sponsors of most of the Protestant denominational schools and also the most frequent sponsors of independent schools in general.

Within the totality of the Protestant denominational schools is a flow has evangelical schools established that the term "denominational schools" - especially for institutions - in delimiting importance to all other religious schools of their claim religious upbringing. A considerable number of these schools have formed a joint umbrella organization, the Association of Protestant Confession Schools (VEBS). Most of the evangelical denominational schools emerged from the 1970s "in response to neo-Marxist school reforms ".

criticism

The denominational school institution has been criticized for being abused as a means of social exclusion under the pretext of religious affiliation. Parents hoped that the targeted enrollment of their children in a denominational school would create a better social environment without migrants.

Another point of criticism is that non-Catholic primary school teachers in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony have worse career opportunities regionally or nationwide than Catholic ones, because there are a high proportion of Catholic denominational schools in the public schools and Catholic applicants for a position as a teacher or headmaster preferred to be hired or promoted. However, this does not create a conflict with the General Equal Treatment Act , according to which discrimination on religious grounds is illegal, but an exception exists that continues to allow employees of church organizations and institutions to be selected by denomination, similar to political parties. However, something else applies to state-sponsored denominational schools, because the state as sponsor cannot invoke the exceptions of the AGG. Thus, there is potential discrimination with regard to teachers.

In the debate is the preference for children who bring the right creed. If there are more registrations than available places at the school, denominational schools do not choose according to the normal criteria of the primary school education regulations, but according to denomination.

In February 2014, the Minden Administrative Court ruled on the lawsuit brought by a Muslim family from Paderborn. The admission of a child was refused by a Catholic elementary school after the parents refused to sign a declaration of compulsory participation in Catholic religious instruction and services. The plaintiffs saw the status of the school as a denominational school in question because only 40% of the students were Catholic. In its judgment, the court confirmed the legality of the headmaster's decision not to admit the child until the parents gave their consent to their child's participation in religious education and school services. The unreserved right to choose a denominational school exists due to the state constitution (Art. 12, Paragraph 3, Sentence 2) only for children of the respective denomination. Children from outside the denomination may only be admitted in exceptional cases, provided that this does not jeopardize the homogeneity of the school's denomination or if this child cannot reach a school of its own denomination or a community school within a reasonable distance. The way to school for elementary school students in North Rhine-Westphalia is considered reasonable if the total time to school does not exceed one hour. Regular waiting times in school before and after classes should not exceed 45 minutes in total. In September 2017 the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a constitutional complaint against the decision as inadmissible. The Basic Law expressly allows state denominational schools.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: denominational school  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Press release on the decision of the Minden Higher Administrative Court of March 22, 2016
  2. ↑ Kai Riedel [www.kai-riedel.de]: Constitution of the German Reich ["Weimarer Reichsverfassungs"] of August 11, 1919. In: www.documentarchiv.de. Retrieved August 27, 2016 .
  3. ↑ http://www.deutschlandradio.de/archiv/dlr/sendung/merkmal/309412/index.html
  4. ↑ EDUCATION / CONFESSION SCHOOLS: On the retreat . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 1967 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Avenarius, Hermann; Ilgner, Rainer [ed.], The State and the Catholic School, Cologne 1992, p. 14: “In the past, the Catholic school was primarily seen as a bulwark against harmful external influences, against worldly dangers. Today their positive role is highlighted ”.
  6. ^ K. Erlinghagen, The secularization of the German school. Hanover 1972
  7. ^ Concordat between the Holy See and the State of Lower Saxony of February 26, 1965
  8. ↑ Avenarius, Hermann; Ilgner, Rainer [Ed.], The State and the Catholic School, Cologne 1992, p. 12: In the former state of Oldenburg, there are only denominational schools in the elementary school sector by virtue of the constitutional guarantee of existence (Art. 55 Preliminary Nds. Author). In contrast to the provisions enacted for the other denominational schools, the admission of non-denominational students is permitted under simplified conditions (in detail § 118 N SchG) .
  9. ↑ The right to Christian education in the context of the Catholic school. Kerstin Schmitz-Stuhlträger, Lit Verlag, 2009, p. 132
  10. ↑ Schools say goodbye to the state of emergency ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), Münsterländische Tageszeitung from March 22, 2011.
  11. ↑ Because he's gay: Teacher withdraws application as headmaster. In: Focus Online. May 3, 2012, accessed December 8, 2014 .
  12. ↑ www.elterninitiative-lohne.de ( Memento from February 21, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ Florian Klenk: School: The heretics of Lohne. In: zeit.de. October 9, 2003, accessed December 8, 2014 .
  14. ↑ Brothers Grimm School no longer exists . Oldenburg People's Newspaper . November 11, 2010
  15. ^ City of Lohne: Majority in favor of preserving the denominational schools ( memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). October 13, 2015
  16. ↑ Are denominational schools being converted? Oldenburgische Volkszeitung from April 12, 2008 www.elterninitiative-lohne.de ( Memento from December 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Conversion failed for the time being Oldenburgische Volkszeitung from December 18, 2008 www.elterninitiative-lohne.de ( Memento from May 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ^ City of Vechta: Vote on denominational schools: a majority of parents do not agree to conversion . 19th October 2018
  19. ↑ City of Vechta: Parents vote on denominational schools . June 15, 2018
  20. ↑ Protestant teacher is allowed to lead Catholic school. In: welt.de. June 15, 2018, accessed June 26, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Lars Koschmieder becomes rector of the Josefschule. In: borkenerzeitung.de. June 21, 2018, accessed June 26, 2018 .
  22. ^ Sebastian Hartmann, The state confessional school in the light of the AGG, in: DÖV 2015, 875 ff.
  23. ^ Motion for a resolution of the parliamentary group of the SPD and the parliamentary group BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN on the 11th Education Law Amendment Act (PDF) State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, March 17, 2015, accessed on June 19, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Eleventh law to amend the School Act for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (11th School Law Amendment Act). State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, March 19, 2015, archived from the original on March 25, 2015 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia: Press release: Priority right to admission of confessional children at confessional schools in NRW. In: Decision of March 21, 2016, file number: 19 B 996/15. March 21, 2016, archived from the original on August 27, 2016 ; accessed on August 27, 2016 .
  26. ^ All statistical data from the school system in North Rhine-Westphalia from a quantitative perspective 2018/19 , www.schulministerium.nrw.de
  27. ↑ Answer of the state government to the minor question 1232 of May 13, 2013 by the MP Monika Pieper PIRATE, www.landtag.nrw.de
  28. ↑ General-Anzeiger Bonn, place of residence should have priority when admitted to primary schools, June 5, 2009 www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de ( Memento of November 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  29. ↑ a b Hermann Horstkotte: State Confessional Schools: How the baptism certificate divides neighbors' children. In: zeit.de. February 1, 2011, accessed December 8, 2014 .
  30. ↑ Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu: Confessional schools in Bonn: Neighboring children are separated , general-anzeiger-bonn.de, article from February 8, 2017.
  31. ↑ "Short legs - short distances" initiative. In: "Short legs - short distances" initiative. Retrieved August 27, 2016 .
  32. ↑ Schools are becoming increasingly denominational. Die Welt Online, March 28, 2012, accessed August 5, 2012 . ITEM 4.4: Conversion of two Catholic primary schools into community primary schools. City of Cologne, September 26, 2013, accessed on March 4, 2014 .
  33. ^ Adventist Mose Confession School opens , idea.de, article from September 21, 2018.
  34. ↑ ideaSpektrum 38.2001, p. 25
  35. ↑ Church principles for teaching and education in the Catholic denominational schools in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
  36. ↑ ja-zu-frei-schulen.de (campaign website of the school foundation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony)
  37. ↑ Concepts with question marks (PDF; 1.8 MB) - Statement by Gottfried Meskemper , one of the co-founders of the Bremen Confessional School, on reform processes within the school after 2002
  38. ↑ Hermann Horstkotte: State Confessional Schools: People of different faiths have to stay outside . Mirror online. Archived from the original on July 25, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
  39. ^ Hermann Horstkotte: Protestant is not allowed to lead school . Frankfurter Rundschau Online. Retrieved February 12, 2010.
  40. ↑ AGG § 9 Paragraph 2 and AGG § 20 Paragraph 1 No. 4
  41. ^ Sebastian Hartmann, The state confessional school in the light of the AGG, in: DÖV 2015, 875 ff.
  42. ^ Hermann Horstkotte: Denominational schools: expulsion from school or religious instruction. In: zeit.de. July 20, 2011, accessed December 8, 2014 .
  43. ↑ Nadine Conti: Paderborn: Muslim child rightly rejected . New Westphalian. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  44. ^ Judgment of the Minden Administrative Court, 8 K 1719/13 . Retrieved March 9, 2014.
  45. ↑ Ordinance on the implementation of Section 97, Paragraph 4 of the School Act (School Driving Costs Ordinance - SchfkVO -), Section 13, Paragraph 3recht.nrw.de
  46. ↑ At state denominational schools, school worship is compulsory . Domradio.de. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  47. ↑ Decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of September 8, 2017 - 1 BvR 984/17 . Retrieved March 20, 2018.