Schools need more autonomy and their teachers must be allowed more freedom to structure their lessons differently, according to a policy paper by the GEW, the country’s main teacher union.
GEW chairman Dieter Wunder said that teachers could do their jobs far more effectively if they weren’t bogged down by bureaucracy and regulations imposed by education ministers.
The union does not want the education ministries in the federal states to give up their responsibility for employing staff or setting exams, but it does want to scrap regulations stipulating curriculum content. It also favours a review of quality in schools and has called for more involvement for parents and pupils in school conferences.
