In Germany, there is still a strong correlation between the background and school performance of children and young people. There is an urgent need for action with regard to pupils' educational and participation opportunities, which requires a joint effort by all stakeholders in the education system. The federal and state governments have therefore agreed on the Startchancen-Programm (SCP), which is intended to help sustainably improve the performance of the education system in Germany, increase educational equality and equal opportunities and further break the strong link between social background and educational success. In Rhineland-Palatinate, a total of 200 schools with a high proportion of socio-economically disadvantaged pupils take part in the SCP. In Idar-Oberstein, the Realschule plus and the Idar elementary school were accepted into the program by the state.
The SCP extends over a period of ten years and consists of three pillars: an investment program for a modern and conducive learning environment, an opportunity budget for needs-based solutions for school and teaching development and more staff to strengthen multi-professional teams. For the ten-year term, the investment program provides a total of around 1,858,000 euros for both schools, of which the city of Idar-Oberstein, as the school authority, has to bear its own share of 557,400 euros. Each school year, around 28,000 euros are available for the opportunity budget and around 137,500 euros for the multi-professional teams for both schools.
Principal Christian Back and his deputy principals have already done a lot of preparatory work together with the school administration of the City Youth Welfare Office so that the implementation of the measures can begin promptly. "This is a challenge for the school and the school authorities, because it also involves a lot of work. But of course we can see the positive effects associated with the SCP," explains Back. He is pleased that politicians are taking into account the special conditions that prevail at schools such as the RS plus with the Startchancen program. Mayor Frühauf praises the good cooperation between the school and the school authorities: "We are ready to go and hope that the state will now also do its homework as quickly as possible so that we can get started with the SCP."