Nine-year grammar school - Initiative aims to win G9 for all with referendum
The Parents' Initiative for a return to the nine-year secondary school is continuing its fight and has submitted a popular initiative for a G9 option for all classes at the Interior Ministry. Representatives of the organization team handed over the documents for the popular initiative to the Interior Ministry.
With the popular initiative, parents aim to give all students at the secondary school the opportunity to obtain their Abitur (A-levels) in nine years starting from 2026. "It's just about a temporal relief," said Marita Raschke from the organization team. The G8 content should still be taught, but stretched over nine years. "Then the kids would have much more time to work on Corona learning gaps."
At present, the eight-year secondary school is the standard in Baden-Württemberg. G9 exists only as a model project in 44 state schools and at some private schools.
The red-black coalition had agreed on common proposals for fundamental reforms in April. G9 was supposedly to be introduced from the school year 2025/2026 – initially only for classes five and six. The secondary schools should also be given the option to offer G8 tracks – however, without receiving additional funds for it.
The popular initiative is based on a citizens' proposal that has received over 100,000 signatures. According to Raschke, the necessary 10,000 signatures for the submission of the popular initiative were collected. The Landtag had rejected the citizens' proposal in April. The initiators of the citizens' proposal are no longer part of the team for the popular initiative.
The Interior Ministry now has three weeks to check the eligibility of the popular initiative. For the popular initiative, parents would have to collect significantly more signatures than for the citizens' proposal, approximately 770,000.
- Marita Raschke, a member of the Parents' Initiative for a return to the nine-year secondary school, believes that the proposed G9 option will provide students with more time to address learning gaps caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
- The popular initiative for a G9option in all Grammar schools in Baden-Württemberg was initiated by parents and submitted to the Ministry of the Interior in Stuttgart.
- Despite the red-black coalition's agreement to introduce G9 from the school year 2025/2026 only for classes five and six, Marita Raschke and her team are pushing for a popular initiative to ensure that all secondary school classes have the option to follow the nine-year curriculum.
- The schools in Baden-Württemberg currently follow an eight-year secondary school curriculum, but the G9 model exists as a pilot project in 44 state schools and some private institutions.
- The Parents' Initiative for a return to the nine-year secondary school is hoping to gain support from the public in the upcoming referendum over the popular initiative, as they aim to provide students with a more comprehensive and less pressured education experience.
