New School Era Coming

From April to early June....most all schools in Germany were shutdown.  Political folks will pat the 'system' on the back and say it that it performed well in the plan-B fashion.

The plan-B?  Well....as kids exited the school and went home....they took their books and teachers were to be paid....while building a assignment program which functioned via the internet and e-mail. 

Results?  Depending on who you talk to....it's pretty mixed.  Some will point out with the right parents (implying that they were fairly educated to start with)....things worked in a decent fashion.  Others will point out that if the parents weren't fairly educated or new immigrants.....the kid marginally progressed in his/her studies. A fair number of teachers were also quick to point out that various kids didn't have access to a computer/tab/smart-phone, or have internet in the house (mostly implying welfare-case kids/families). 

So it came up today via N-TV....some political folks talking about the new plan-B.

The Chancellor, along with the sixteen state Premier-Presidents....are discussing a fairly radical idea.....they would fund schools with 'high-speed' internet, provide kids with 'affordable' internet, and the equipment to study at home, if another shut-down occurs.

Formal talks?  NO.  This is strictly putting ideas on the table....to be researched on the cost and how things would work.

The discussed cost for internet for kids?  Ten Euro per month.  Where they got this number?  Unknown. 

Broadband cost in Germany presently, for one link-up in a house?  In the range of 20 to 30 Euro....depending on various options.  Setting up the deal at the house and start-up fees?  You can figure around forty to one-hundred Euro, depending on the company and region.

If you were going to do with a tab...with the data phone-hook-up?  A cheap tab?  Maybe in the 120 Euro range, and maybe some Telekom engineer could figure out a low-quality band deal for 10 Euro a month, with only access to approved sites (so the kid didn't use the resource for Tik Tok stuff). 

But all of this leads me to two key questions.

1.  To stage this meeting and discuss the options on the table....means that they anticipate a complete shutdown again.  Or am I just imagining things?

2.  Just because you give some 10-year old kid a tab, access to a teacher, and ability to conduct daily work at home....will the majority of kids actually stick to a disciplined situation?  Or am I just imagining things again?

The one thing that I see out of this....if this goes forward....in less than five years, some German political figure will figure a way to hire 1k Filipino teachers to instruct German kids in math, and save 60-percent on salary structure (letting the German math instructors go). 

I might also suggest that some kids will get smart....find some kid in the neighborhood to do their homework, and at-home tests....making the system into a four-star joke. 

But this is the new reality, and kids better get used to spending more time at home and less time at school.