Prohibition of cooperation | How the education billions go to waste

Many schools leave a neglected impression. Photo: dpa/ Hendrik Schmidt Nobody needs to be surprised anymore that the toilets in schools stink and that there is a draft through the windows when you look at the bare figures of financing. According to KfW Bank, the renovation backlog amounts to between 55 and 68.9 billion euros nationwide - for school buildings alone. After all, the federal government wanted to use the special fund to provide money for the infrastructure of educational institutions.

But the money doesn't arrive. 1.22 billion euros have been earmarked for this this year, but so far only around seven million euros have been drawn down. Federalism is once again getting in its own way. There appears to be a lack of agreements on how the funds will be passed on to the states and ultimately to the municipalities.

This shows once again how much the ban on cooperation paralyzes the education system. It sometimes takes years for the money to reach the municipalities. And the frustrating thing is: There is no serious initiative to change this obvious grievance. Education does not have the importance it needs in politics. Still not. There are only noble intentions that are formulated with every new coalition agreement. But the bottom line is that the results often remain unsatisfactory.

You can see how things can be different when upgrading, which works smoothly for the most part. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has declared the Bundeswehr to be a top priority. The arms industry has thus become an economic engine. Without them there would currently be no economic growth. It has become an important factor by which the Merz government measures its economic policy success.

With this prioritization, education cannot keep up, which is extremely short-sighted. The federal government also sees this as a highly developed society needs well-educated people. But among the younger generation in particular, doubts are clearly growing as to whether society is actually as developed as it likes to portray itself. After all, she is obviously not able to organize even the simplest things reliably: If even the toilets in the school are not clean, one lesson after the other is canceled and the bus that the students depend on does not come reliably, then something is wrong.

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