Nationwide education strike in 2009

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Students and pupils on June 17th in Jena
Schoolchildren on June 17th in Bonn
Schoolchildren and students on June 17th in Göttingen

Nationwide education strike 2009 is the self-designation of an action that took place predominantly from June 15 to 19, 2009 and on November 17, 2009 at German secondary schools and universities. It is part of the school and student protests in Germany in 2009 . The information on the number of participants in the demonstrations on June 17 fluctuates: According to media reports, more than 200,000 schoolchildren and students took part in decentralized demonstrations in many German cities, the educational strike alliance indicates around 270,000 participants. On November 17, 2009, 85,000 students and schoolchildren took part in the rallies across Germany, according to the education strike alliance.

organization

The education strike was organized by an alliance of around 270 different political groups. The supporters of the education strike include local educational alliances as well as youth and regional organizations of the SPD, the Greens, the Left Party and some trade unions (ver.di, GEW, IG Metall). The organization of the educational strike took place decentrally through local educational strike alliances in the participating cities, which, although networked with one another, planned actions in the respective region that were not centrally controlled. The decentralization also made it possible for the local alliances to tailor their demands specifically to the different situations in the federal states.

requirements

The protests were combined with demands in different areas. The student demands relate primarily to four subject areas: Unrestricted access to education (abolition of tuition fees and access restrictions), changes in the Bachelor / Master system (less “schooling”, more Master’s places, see Bologna Process ), democratization of the university (more say of the students in the university decision-making bodies, reduction of the influence of the economy) and improvement of the teaching conditions (creation of additional positions, abolition of the excellence initiative) The protests of the students were directed against the tripartite school system, the eight-year high school G8, too large classes, overloading of the curriculum, against top grades, for third parity in the school conference, as well as for a true freedom of teaching materials . Because according to the pupils and students this can often not be guaranteed.

In addition, the regional alliances worked out specific catalogs of requirements that were addressed to the respective university managements and state governments, for example in Giessen by over 2000 students, in Heidelberg, Osnabrück or Wuppertal.

Actions

The 2009 educational strike was a protest from June 15-19, 2009 and November 17, 2009. The organization and planning of actions during this week was largely left to the local educational strike alliances. Different forms of protest and action were used. In addition to the mere absence of courses was often on the flash mob resorted as a publicity means of protest. The content of educational policy issues was discussed in the form of general assemblies as well as lectures, seminars and panel discussions, some of which were also offered by lecturers and professors. In the course of the week there were several occupations of university buildings in various cities, some of which were spontaneous, some of which were agreed and planned with the institute management. The central element of the educational strike week were the large, decentralized demonstrations in the participating cities on Wednesday, June 17, 2009. On this day, more than 200,000 people took to the streets nationwide. Also in several cities, but especially in Berlin, symbolic bank robberies took place on the following Thursday like a flash mob. The aim was to criticize the fact that billions in aid had been provided to banks as part of the financial crisis, while there was a lack of money in the education system. The educational strike week in summer ended with a demonstration in Düsseldorf on Saturday, June 20, 2009 .

It has already been announced for autumn 2009 that decentralized demonstrations and protest actions will again draw attention to the goals of the education strike. Actions began again at the beginning of November 2009. In the run-up to November 17th and on the day of the rally itself, lecture halls were occupied by students in several German universities. The stimulus for this was, among other things, the student protest in Austria .

Reactions and consequences

The actions during the educational strike week received a lot of media coverage, especially on Wednesday, when large, decentralized demonstrations were called. While the protests of the "Generation 09" were mostly presented as justified in principle, the catalog of demands was described several times as diffuse, which was mainly attributed to the heterogeneous composition of the organizing bodies and the different initial situations in the various federal states.

Criticism came mainly from the CDU. Federal Minister of Science Annette Schavan called the protests “yesterday”. However, she acknowledged the need to make improvements to the Bachelor's / Master's degree programs. The demand for improvements was also confirmed at the Conference of Education Ministers in October 2009. In November the university rectors also signaled their support and understanding for the demands of the students and the president of the university rectors' conference , Margret Wintermantel campaigned for cooperation.

On June 19, 2009, the Berlin Senator for Education Jürgen Zöllner (SPD) publicly faced the demands of around 500 strikers in front of his office in Berlin-Mitte.

On December 7, 2009, the head of the NRW SPD, Hannelore Kraft , called for a “Bologna TÜV”.

In addition, in Oldenburg the examination performances in the Bachelor / Master system were reduced to a "normal level" and Ä.

Continuation of the protests

At the Carl-von-Ossietzky University in Oldenburg , one of the demands was to provide the strikers with a strike office, from where the further work on the changes is monitored by the students. In Oldenburg the network is still active, at the moment (April 2010) in the implementation of the changes decided by the Senate. During the semester break, an “education café” was set up that continues to meet weekly and invites to discussions about the consequences of the strike and to further work.

Damage

Following the protest event in the classical auditorium of the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen on June 18, 2009, during an attack by rioters in connection with protests against the study conditions, the busts of the mathematician David Hilbert and the polymath Christian Gottlob Heyne were badly damaged, the latter irreparable. In Mainz, the House of Representatives was occupied at short notice on June 17, the CDU parliamentary group's exhibition there on the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was damaged, and an exhibit was stolen.

See also

Web links

Commons : Nationwide Education Strike 2009  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.rp-online.de/panorama/deutschland/200000-im-Bildungsstreik_aid_721133.html
  2. Archive link ( Memento from March 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  3. Successful start to the hot autumn - over 85,000 demonstrated for better education ( Memento from April 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Archive link ( Memento from August 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  5. Demands of the students regarding the educational strike in 2009 ( Memento of October 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  6. Demands and self-image of the pupils on the educational strike 2009 ( Memento from February 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  7. "Giessen Declaration" student demands on 14 pages
  8. http://www.bildungsstreik2009-hd.de/old/sites/default/files/Ausformulierte_Forderungen.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bildungsstreik2009-hd.de  
  9. Position paper of the educational strike plenum Osnabrück  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 78 kB)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / dl.dropbox.com  
  10. http://bildungsstreikwuppertal.wordpress.com/arbeitskreise/ak-streiklösungen/ ( Memento from June 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ^ An announced bank robbery , time online
  12. Archive link ( Memento from August 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ^ Riot at the universities ( memento of November 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de of November 12, 2009
  14. ^ Students protest again at taz.de on November 7, 2009
  15. Studies should be allowed to be studies again ( Memento from July 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de from July 7, 2009
  16. The Bachelor should get better ( memento from October 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de from October 16, 2009
  17. Support from the rector's room ( memento from November 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de from November 13, 2009
  18. University rectors want dialogue ( Memento from November 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Stuttgarter Zeitung from November 13, 2009
  19. Education Senator demonstrates for education , taz from June 20, 2009
  20. Kraft wants to send universities to the "Bologna TÜV" , derwesten.de of December 7, 2009
  21. 10,000 euros damage in the Uni-Aula Göttinger Tageblatt online June 18, 2009
  22. ^ Rhein-Zeitung (archive)