Söder's gender ban meets with criticism in the school family

Society - Söder's gender ban meets with criticism in the school family

The announced gender ban in Bavaria's schools has met with much criticism and rejection from education associations. "I (...) do not consider a strict ban on new spellings to be necessary or effective. There would be more of a risk of further division and polarization in the school community," said Michael Schwägerl, chairman of the Philologists' Association (bpv), when asked by the German Press Agency in Munich on Wednesday. The chairman of the Realschullehrerverband (brlv), Ulrich Babl, explained: "Gender is not a significant issue at Bavarian secondary schools, but we clearly reject a gender requirement."

The Bavarian Parents' Association emphasized that it was "unimpressed by this jibe against the traffic light government". Söder was merely "populistically presenting the current legal situation, according to which German is the official language in Bavarian schools and authorities".

In his first government statement of the new electoral term on Tuesday, Söder had declared, to the surprise of many, that gendering should be banned in schools and administration in Bavaria. The Free State would thus be following the same path as some other federal states. For example, special characters for gender-neutral language are rejected at schools in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

Even Education Minister Anna Stolz (Free Voters) had not been informed in advance by Söder. She was correspondingly cautious about the head of government's initiative: "We already have clear guidelines on the linguistic representation of genders in schools. We will now examine whether there is a need for change. One thing is very important to me: we want to and will find good and reliable regulations for everyone involved."

According to Schwägerl, the bpv is committed to ensuring that the German language is used carefully in Bavarian schools. "This means being open to new forms that treat women and men equally, for example, but not rushing to introduce them before the speaker community gets behind them and a clear set of rules has been established." Due to the growing number of pupils with a migration background, a clear orientation is necessary for language acquisition. "Those who are still struggling with the three grammatical genders and the correct articles in German don't need any additional difficulties."

It should be a matter of course to teach pupils in a language-sensitive and equal manner, said Babl. A simple example of this is the consideration of different job titles such as fireman and firewoman. "However, when it comes to overcoming traditional role models, we are primarily committed to expanding the development opportunities and career prospects of all children and young people."

According to Schwägerl and Babl, Bavaria has always done well by following the rules of the German Spelling Council. At the beginning of the school year, a ministerial announcement stated that the official spelling rules, as amended, were the binding basis for teaching in all schools. At the same time, however, it is also true that language is constantly changing. It is therefore important "that we understand these changes and look at them critically. At secondary schools in particular, we also need to talk about the development of the language in an age- and target group-appropriate way."

"What is German is defined by the German Spelling Council," emphasized Martin Löwe, state chairman of the parents' association. The Council had recently made it clear that the inclusion of asterisks (gender asterisks), underscores (gender gap), colons or other abbreviated forms to indicate multi-gender terms within words was not intended in the official set of rules. "Minister President Söder does not tell us what sanctions he intends to impose in the event of non-compliance. A ban without sanctions is symbolic at best."

Söder only received support from his party colleagues. State parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek said that it was particularly important in these times to "show a clear edge and reflect the reality of people's lives". Head of the State Chancellery Florian Herrmann emphasized that it was particularly important to use understandable language in schools and in administration.