For more ‘freedom in learning’
On 24 November 2024, the German Citizens' Assembly on Education and Learning voted by a large majority in favour of children and young people being better prepared for life at school. 95 per cent of the 120 or so citizens present voted in favour of the demand ‘Awakening a thirst for knowledge through individual, real-life learning’. This means that a demand that is particularly close to the hearts of the children and young people in the Citizens' Assembly was adopted.
‘You learn far too little for life at school,’ says pupil Sebastian Liess (16). ‘It's all about very different things: How do I apply for a job? How do I look for a flat? And more fundamentally: what will I have to do when I grow up and have to organise my own life?’
Teaching more practical content
The other young assembly members who attended the seventh meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly for Education and Learning on 23 and 24 November 2024 in Leipzig expressed similar views. In various discussion rounds, they pleaded for more practical content to be taught at school to better prepare them for their future lives.
The members of the mini-public in Leipzig spent two days discussing, fine-tuning the wording, analysing the reasons and ultimately voting. The result is a total of 20 proposals focussing on three different areas: early childhood education, general education schools and vocational training. The overarching question for all three areas was: ‘Equal opportunities: How much freedom does learning need?’
Playful acquisition of the German language
In the area of early childhood education, the recommendation ‘Playful, interactive acquisition of the German language’ received the largest majority. A total of 86 per cent agreed ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’. The majority of young assembly participants, who voted separately on the recommendations, were also in favour of this demand. One proposal from the area of vocational training is ‘Create career prospects for young people without school-leaving qualifications’. Around 87 per cent of those present were in favour of this.
‘I think we can be really proud of what we have achieved and of the proposals we have formulated together. Of course, some of the discussions were tough, but now we can say that we have developed something that we can present with a clear conscience,‘ says participant Sabirya Ekinci, who has been active in the Citizens’ Assembly for four years. ‘Now I hope that our work will be recognised and taken seriously.’
Citizens' Assembly continues its work in 2025
The recommendations will be published in spring 2025 after being revised by an editorial committee of the Citizens' Assembly. ‘But it is not enough to simply adopt and hand over the recommendations - it is important to discuss the content at different levels, for example with school administrators, specialised administrations and ministries of education,’ explains Sabine Milowan, Head of the Montag Stiftung Denkwerkstatt. ‘The aim is for the Citizens' Assembly's proposals to be implemented.’
In total, the Citizens' Assembly on Education and Learning is made up of around 700 randomly selected people from all over Germany, representing a cross-section of the population. The entire mini-public was able to provide feedback in advance on the recommendations, the basis of which was developed at the last Citizens’ Assembly meeting in Cologne in mid-September 2024. The results of this survey were included in the deliberations at the weekend in Leipzig.
The final decision on which recommendations to adopt was now taken by the 100 or so assembly members present together with the 20 or so young mini-public members under the age of 16.
More than 700 Citizens' Assembly members
The Citizens' Assembly for Education and Learning consists of more than 700 people randomly selected from all over Germany. The aim is to formulate joint recommendations to get politicians to take action - and to improve education in Germany.
‘The Citizens‘ Assembly on Education and Learning has shown in recent years that it can make a difference, for example in the areas of participation and equal opportunities,’ says Sabine Milowan, Project Manager and Head of the Montag Stiftung Denkwerkstatt. ‘It's also about utilising the existing freedom that the education system provides.’
Previous recommendations
In a first round of work, the Citizens' Assembly had already developed 15 recommendations in several stages and submitted them to the President of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in June 2023. The newly developed recommendations, which once again focus on completely new aspects, will also be presented to selected politicians in 2025 and discussed at various levels.
In total, the Citizens' Assembly on Education and Learning is made up of more than 700 people who were randomly selected from a population of around 70,000 in order to represent a cross-section of the population. The selection was based on criteria such as age, gender, education and region.
Children and young people included
Another special feature of the Citizens' Assembly is the fact that children and young people are already involved in the work. More than 250 schoolchildren aged 16 and under took part in discussions in various school workshops and developed their own proposals on the topic of ‘How do we want to learn?’, which they published under the heading ‘Listen to us!’. ‘We want to have a say in WHAT we learn and HOW we learn’ is one of their key demands.
The Citizens' Assembly on Education and Learning 2020 was launched by the Montag Stiftung Denkwerkstatt. This independent, non-profit foundation is one of the Montag Foundations in Bonn and has set itself the task of addressing socially relevant topics, promoting constructive dialogue and initiating change processes. Unlike most mini-publics, the Citizens’ Assembly on Education and Learning was not commissioned by a political body.