Opinion
14.04.2020

Rethinking Germany's 2020 summer vacation

Schoolchildren need support after lockdown, say Michaela Kreyenfeld and co-authors from the academic advisory council to Germany's family affairs ministry.

Germans can't expect the summer 2020 to be "vacation as usual". Instead of the usual six weeks off during the summer, German schoolchildren need opportunities that will help make up for lost school time due to the coronavirus lockdown, write four members - including Hertie School Professor of Sociology Michaela Kreyenfeld - of the Academic Advisory Council on Family Affairs of the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The co-authors are  Sabine Andresen, professor at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Birgit Leyendecker, professor at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, and Jörg M. Fegert, professor at Universitätsklinikum Ulm. Doing nothing would be especially detrimental for children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, who may not otherwise have the chance to make up for the lost learning.  Parents who have been working at home while trying to homeschool also need support. This requires social and educational policy coordination among the ministries of culture, family, and social affairs, as well as the collective response of various social and professional groups on the ground. 

Read about their ideas in German here.

The text was also cited in an article on 14 April in the print version of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

More about Michaela Kreyenfeld