Several refugee parents told tuenews INTERNATIONAL that their children—across all types of schools—are being treated unfairly. What can affected families do? We asked the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs in Stuttgart.
“Discrimination of any kind” has “no place” in schools in Baden-Württemberg and is “absolutely unacceptable”: Fabian Schmidt, deputy press spokesperson at the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, stated this as a matter of principle. In Baden-Württemberg, schools are required to report such incidents to the relevant school authorities. This applies, among other things, to anti-Semitic incidents as well as other religiously or ethnically motivated and discriminatory incidents. In his response, the spokesperson also pointed to various approaches such as prevention officers, programs like “stark.stärker.WIR.” for schools, professional development for teachers, and counseling services to promote democratic and diversity competencies.
Three Ways to Solve Problems
Despite these approaches, conflicts arise time and again in everyday school life. In the search for solutions, Schmidt cited three “established approaches.” “Parents should, whenever possible, always discuss their concerns first with the teacher in question.” Mothers and fathers described to tuenews INTERNATIONAL varying experiences with such conversations. If the problems cannot be resolved through informal channels, parents could approach the school administration, according to the ministry spokesperson. Even in such cases, the results are not always satisfactory, affected parents reported.
In cases that cannot be resolved at the school, parents could contact the school supervisory authorities. For elementary, vocational, secondary, and community schools, as well as special education and counseling centers, these are the State School Boards. The Regional Councils are responsible for high schools and vocational schools.
Free and Confidential Support
Schmidt also pointed to a “wide range of counseling and support services.” For example, there are approximately 1,550 counseling teachers stationed at schools across the state. They serve as the “first point of contact” for both students and parents when school-related difficulties arise. They have undergone additional training for this purpose. The counseling is confidential and free of charge.
In addition, there are school psychology counseling centers at 28 locations in Baden-Württemberg as part of the Center for School Quality and Teacher Training. One of the tasks of school psychologists is to support students and parents, as well as teachers and school administrators, with psychological and educational issues. Counseling is free and confidential. Counselors are bound by professional confidentiality.
Contact points in the Tübingen district:
Tübingen School Board:
https://tue.schulamt-bw.de/,Lde/Startseite
List of counseling teachers in the districts of Tübingen and Reutlingen:
https://tue.schulamt-bw.de/site/pbs-bw-rebrush2024/get/documents_E-141186732/KULTUS.Dachmandant/KULTUS/Schulaemter/schulamt-tuebingen/Unterst%C3%BCtzung-Beratung/Beratungslehrkr%C3%A4fte/Beratungslehrkr%C3%A4fte%20Lkr%20T%C3%9C%2BRT%202025-2026.pdf
Link to the Tübingen School Psychology Counseling Center, also responsible for the Reutlingen district:
https://zsl-bw.de/,Lde/startseite/beratung/spbs-tuebingen
See also tun22051807
tun26022408