After months of struggle, the federal states and the federal government have agreed on a continuation of the so-called digital pact. 2.5 billion euros should be made available over the next six years to equip schools with laptops and modern IT infrastructure. “We have to prepare our schools for a world that is digitally influenced,” said the Federal Minister of Education Cem Ozdemir (Greens) in Berlin.
Given the intensive negotiations, Özdemir spoke of a “last-minute breakthrough”. The federal-state negotiations had previously stalled under former Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. The sticking point was the financing, which required a 50:50 split. There was resistance to this in the large countries. With the agreement now reached, the states can contribute a large part of the funds, around two billion euros, by offsetting measures that have already been planned. This significantly cushions the financial burden on the countries.
The future federal government must decide
Whether the new digital pact actually comes into force depends crucially on future developments Federal Government who will be elected in February. Özdemir also admitted that. The agreement is also subject to future budget decisions. “No future federal government will be able to ignore the agreement,” said Özdemir.
The Digital Pact 2.0 is also intended to secure the digital equipment of schools in the future. In the first Digital Pact for Schools, which expired in May of this year, the federal government had contributed 6.5 billion euros since 2019 and covered 90 percent of the expenses for digitization in schools, such as laptops and digital boards. States and municipalities only had to cover ten percent.
