Compatibility - CDU and Greens want more family-friendly university operations
The governing coalition of the CDU and the Greens wants to achieve a better work-life balance at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia. Career opportunities beyond professorships are also to be improved.
The state parliamentary groups have instructed the state government to enter into a dialog with the universities as to whether semesters can start in September and March in future, as is the case at universities of applied sciences. The universities should also schedule examination phases outside of school vacations wherever possible. The motion should be passed in plenary on Thursday with a black-green majority. Universities in NRW are largely autonomous. The winter semester in NRW currently begins in October, the summer semester in April.
The CDU and Greens argue that the demand for family-friendliness has not only increased since the coronavirus pandemic. University-related or university-owned childcare places and opportunities for mobile working are important, but not enough. In particular, the frequent incompatibility of the academic year with the school year or the lecture-free period with the school vacations is an enormous challenge for many employees with children.
Fair and attractive working conditions as well as more predictable and new career paths at universities also need to be created. A better balance between fixed-term and permanent employment must be achieved.
The SPD opposition feels plagiarized by the black-green coalition. Just a few weeks ago, the CDU and Greens had rejected a similar proposal from the SPD parliamentary group. "We could have had all this earlier and faster," said the SPD's spokesperson for higher education policy, Bastian Hartmann.
Proposal by CDU and Greens
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- The CDU and Greens, being part of the governing coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia's State parliament, are advocating for improved work-life balance and family-friendly operations at the region's universities.
- Universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, known as NRW, are autonomous, but the CDU and Greens are pushing for changes to start semesters in September and March, and scheduling exams outside of school vacations to enhance compatibility between academic and family life.
- The proposal by the CDU and Greens in the NRW State parliament includes creating more predictable and new career paths, improving family-friendly facilities such as childcare places, and achieving a better balance between fixed-term and permanent employment at universities in Düsseldorf and other parts of NRW.
- The CDU and Greens' demand for family-friendliness is not a new development, as the challenges posed by the academic year's incompatibility with the school year and vacations persist, causing difficulties for many university employees with children.
Source: www.stern.de
