- Own school in Tempelhof refugee camp from February
The school planned by the Senate, to be located directly in the refugee emergency shelter Tempelhof, is set to open in February 2025. Senatsbaudirektorin Petra Kahlfeldt announced this after a digital Senate meeting. According to her, the school for up to 144 refugee children will be built on a parking lot in front of the former airport building. Thousands of refugees have been living in hangars and containers at Tempelhof for some time.
There is already a similar school offer for children aged 6 to 16 at the large emergency shelter in Tegel. Last school year, around 250 students were taught there, according to the education administration. In the coming school year, all residents who are of school age are to be included, which would be around 700.
Currently, around 80 school-age children live in Tempelhof, all of whom have been placed in schools in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. However, a "schooling offer" is being developed on-site as a precaution, as the district schools are expected to run out of places for more welcome classes due to the continuing increase in student numbers.
Schools directly at the shelter are controversial. Recently, the Left party warned of negative consequences for the children's development if they were isolated from peers and society. However, the education administration, led by Senatorin Katharina Güther-Wünsch (CDU), refers to full schools. "Unfortunately, due to the current shortage of school places, it is not possible to offer all refugee children a place in a welcome class in an existing school in the short term," a spokesperson said in response to a dpa inquiry.
"Therefore, the temporary transition model of central schooling at the TXL (Tegel) site and perspectively at the THF (Tempelhof) site and other large shelters is inevitable to ensure the right to education for school-age children."
Such central offers are always designed as branches of existing schools with the aim of "integrative schooling". Cooperation with school and extracurricular facilities and providers, such as sports clubs, is also planned to achieve the best possible integration.
The school planned for Tempelhof will cater to up to 144 refugee children, providing them with an education opportunity within the refugee emergency shelter. Due to the increasing number of refugee children, additional school-age children in Tempelhof are currently being placed in schools within the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district.
