The NEOS are demanding an emergency aid package worth 450 million euros from the government in order to be able to counteract the “impending loss of education” due to the corona lockdown. This should include additional support hours, the expansion of the summer school and additional psychological and social staff, says NEOS education spokesperson Martina Künsberg Sarre at the APA. Every child has the right to education – even during the corona crisis.
“The pupils must not pay for the failures and decisions of the federal government,” says Künsberg Sarre. Just as for the economy, tourism, gastronomy or the health sector, well thought-out measures were needed quickly for the education sector. “But it is precisely here that I miss the necessary commitment from this federal government.”
Especially for children who already struggled before the crisis, it is important for NEOS to be able to deepen the learning material in special lessons in addition to the regular lessons. However, the budget for 2021 does not provide for additional resources – nor for school psychologists or for social work. In view of the two previous “and possibly a third lockdown”, the summer school must also be expanded, whereby one does not only have to concentrate on German lessons, said Künsberg Sarre.
NEOS also needs additional help for high school graduates as well as for the teaching staff who are to be supported in switching to digital teaching methods. There is also a need for a budget for a “corona education fund” for educational NGOs, an expansion program for open source learning platforms and increased funding for apprenticeships for companies.
