|
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Home About Contact | ||
|
Parents in Class – School Attendance is a Duty of Support – Is the Biggest Reform of the School System Beginning in Burgenlandkreis?Slowly but surely, the squirrel feeds on the fruits of the forest – this is a saying that repeatedly applies when it comes to communication and clarifying matters with offices and authorities. It was also painstaking to get more concrete answers from the district administration to my question: “When will the schools, for which Burgenlandkreis is responsible, provide the conditions so that all parents can fulfill their legal duty of support at any time, and what will this look like in practice?” This question was left unanswered by the district administration three times. Instead, three times they answered when the legal requirements would be created, for which the district itself does not see responsibility. However, I did not ask about the legal requirements, but about the local conditions. The legal requirements include Article 6 of the Basic Law. It states: "The care and upbringing of children is the natural right of parents and the duty primarily incumbent upon them." Additionally, there is § 1618 Duty of Support and Consideration in the German Civil Code (BGB). It says succinctly: “Parents and children owe each other support and consideration.” This applies always and everywhere. Specifically with § 1618 BGB, the district administration, namely the Social Department on behalf of the Social Agency of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, refused to provide integration assistance to finance an integration assistant for children with disabilities and even terminated it in the middle of the school year if parents or relatives conducted or wanted to conduct the integration assistance. Parents are, in this sense, obliged to attend classes to support their child. This duty of support applies not only to children with disabilities.On 8 December 2025, I took the opportunity in the Burgenlandkreis district council to remind them of my previously unanswered question. Mr. Robert Aßmann was asked to read from a supplementary letter addressed to me. The letter was dated 4 December 2025 and was delivered to me by post on 10 December 2025, two days after the council meeting. The letter states: “...in addition to the statements already made, we would like to inform you regarding your inquiry in the district council on 13 October 2025 as follows: Basically, the school law of the state of Saxony-Anhalt (SchulG LSA) supports close and trusting cooperation between schools and guardians. According to § 43 SchulG LSA, guardians have the right and duty to actively accompany the educational development of their child and cooperate with the school. Likewise, the school authority is obliged under § 64 para. 1 SchulG LSA and § 70 para. 1 SchulG LSA to provide the necessary material conditions – especially rooms and equipment – for proper school operations. Against this legal background, we as the school authority are obliged and willing to create the necessary material and organizational framework conditions, provided there is a comprehensible and professionally justified need. This also applies to accompaniment in class, provided it demonstrably serves the welfare and development of the child. In this case, the respective school management and guardians will jointly review which concrete spatial, organizational, and data protection requirements are necessary.” Any thoughtful reader will have noticed that until now, Mr. Robert Aßmann and District Administrator Götz Ulrich (CDU) had said that legal requirements first needed to be created. Suddenly, already after the third question, paragraphs from the school law are cited. Why didn’t Robert Aßmann and District Administrator Götz Ulrich know that these legal requirements already exist? Incompetence? Laziness? Trying to mislead? It should be noted that Robert Aßmann was promoted to head of the Burgenlandkreis Jobcenter on 8 December 2025. A mischief-maker might think ill of that. According to Mr. Aßmann’s statements, the principle is that school principals should ultimately decide whether parental presence in class is necessary. A small anecdote from my own experience: We had such discussions with the principal and teachers at the elementary school in Hohenmölsen. The educators’ view was that children should detach themselves already at the age of 8 or 9. Parental presence in class would not be good for the child’s free development. I couldn’t help but wonder whether children at that age should already be looking for their own apartment. And if parental presence in class is so bad for the child, how bad must parental presence be for children at home? Wouldn’t it then be the most consistent and sensible thing for children to be placed in a children’s home shortly after birth, so they are not exposed to the negative influences of their parents? Yes, that’s the thinking of some educators. I also wondered how freely a child can really develop in a school when it must follow strict rules, meet demands, and do what the teacher and the schedule dictate. Is that freedom? From Mr. Aßmann’s statements, it can be inferred that there has been some alignment with the legal view of the Social Department and Social Agency. I therefore spontaneously asked in the council that if parents want to fulfill their duty of support, it should be possible at any time. The council chairman, Andy Haugk, who apparently sees himself less as a supervisory body over the district administration and the district administrator and more as a shield, said he had not heard it that way. My follow-up question about the principle that parents should be able to fulfill their duty of support was evaded. One can forgive Andy Haugk, because as mayor of Hohenmölsen, he faces the same problem as the district – the same conditions would have to be created in the city’s elementary schools, which apparently is not wanted. Legally, it should be noted that only the school law was cited. Both the Civil Code (BGB) and the Basic Law are federal laws. The principle applies: federal law overrides state law. The rights and duties of parents toward their children are regulated in federal law. State law may refine the regulation but cannot nullify it. So it doesn’t matter what a principal or other educators think: if parents believe their own child needs support at school, even in class, that is the parents’ right and duty. Parents therefore should not see themselves as petitioners when problems arise at school: grumpy teachers, bullying, violence, drugs, discrimination, questionable teaching methods, etc. Parents can tell the school administration: This is my child! It is my duty of support! Even in class! Whether I am present in class is not up to you! I decide! From my own experience, I know that teachers and principals will do everything they can to prevent parents from being present in class. In my case, this went as far as a ban from the Agricolagymnasium in Hohenmölsen because I thought I could educate myself independently there using a smartphone or tablet – during times when my daughter did not need integration assistance. Every time I was expelled from the school, I took my daughter home with me. The educators and education officers did not mind. It was clearly to their satisfaction. I had to go to court to enforce that my presence in class could not be prevented. Parents must first internalize that schools, principals, and teachers have an educational mandate, a parenting mandate (if parents temporarily cannot provide education themselves), and a duty of supervision. Schools have tasks and duties to fulfill. Principals and teachers do not have the right to disempower or patronize parents regarding their children. Once this is understood and internalized, one can interact with teachers and principals very differently. The Great Reform of the School System Can Begin!Everyone dissatisfied with the school system no longer has to hope and wait for action from above. There is no need for endless discussions with school principals or school administration staff that lead to nothing but clichés and lip service. Parents, the sovereign, can initiate the biggest reform of the school system from the bottom up. They just have to want it!Even mere presence will achieve a lot! Author: AI-Translation - Michael Thurm | |
|
| Other articles: |
 | Wolves from Zeitz spotted at demonstration in BerlinThey fear neither weather nor discomfort, neither kilometers nor traffic jams, neither crowds nor the fine dust of the big city. They set off for Berlin to demonstrate for peace, f... zum Artikel |
 | Penitentiary for Mayor Papke – When Things Take (Too) Long AgainSome may still remember the saying: If the D-Mark doesn't come to us, we'll go to the D-Mark. Does that also apply to the prison (JVA) in Weißenfels?... zum Artikel |
 | Bridge Lighting Also in GeraProtests aren’t just happening on Mondays in the greater Thuringian Holzland area — they’re happening on Fridays too, for example.... zum Artikel |
|
Support the operation of this website with voluntary contributions: via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/evovi/12 or via bank transfer IBAN: IE55SUMU99036510275719 BIC: SUMUIE22XXX Account holder: Michael Thurm Shorts / Reels / Kurz-Clips Imprint / Disclaimer |