Dear students and teachers,
12.09.11 –
Mit unseren Briefen wollen wir Dir eine Entscheidungshilfe für die Berliner Abgeordnetenhauswahl am 18. September geben. Lass Dich überzeugen, Deine Stimmen Grün zu geben!
Are you in an apprenticeship, going to a kindergarten or to school, studying at a university or acquiring an additional qualification? Are you teaching at a school, a university, an adult education centre or someplace else?
You all are investing in the future: your personal future as well as the future of our city. We know that it’s not always an easy way. As of 2010, Berlin lacks 23,000 places in child daycare – even though the foundations for a lifelong learning are laid there. Schools lack clean and safe rooms as well as teachers. Therefore, you pupils cannot get the support you need – this is not only frustrating to you, but also to your teachers. People who need more support, e.g. because their native language is not German, fail in the Berlin educational system for exactly these reasons more often than elsewhere. But the struggle doesn’t end after graduating from school: The enterprises in Berlin offer the least apprenticeships compared to the rest of Germany, and the chances to get the favoured university place is 1:5. No wonder, because under the current red-red senate, Berlin lost university places equivalent to a whole college.
We say: This is something we need to change! Our child daycare centres, schools and colleges finally need to be places for success again – for the ones learning as well as for the ones teaching. Because individual support is only working with enough personnel, we want 400 additional teachers. For schools with special problem situations, we will develop an immediate response program and guarantee the after school care for all pupils in 5th and 6th grades. We want to double the budget for school refurbishment – so the ceiling won’t come tumbling down while you are learning!
To get you in your favourite job, we want to create more apprenticeships in cooperation with the Berlin businesses. Are you in a “job preparation program” but feel badly prepared for work life? We want to cut down the jungle of these programs – and ensure that more of these actually lead to a graduation. We want to support the good work done by the Oberstufenzentren (OSZ) when it comes to vocational education.
If you are enrolled in or employed at a university, voting Green will bring you more freedoms. You are the ones who know - through daily work there - what benefits you most. This also applies to you school principals: We want to strengthen your individual responsibility without leaving you alone with the big projects. We also work to keep university places free from tuition fees in Berlin – because this investment will pay off.
We are convinced: Berlin needs a new climate for education which is marked by trust, reliability and participation. This is how we make our city adaptive and learning again. With your vote on September 18th you can support our efforts to do so!
Kind regards,
Your Greens