Bundeswehr increasingly school visits: militarization of education?

Bundeswehr increasingly school visits: militarization of education?

Wiesbaden, Deutschland - In recent years, the Bundeswehr has noticeably expanded its presence in schools. This is a development that is of great interest to find a place in the classrooms and curricula. In 2020, the Bundeswehr came up with 2,717 appearances at educational institutions, a value that decreased somewhat in 2021 to 2,558. But from 2022 the visits increased by leap, with 5,687 missions. 3,520 appointments are already scheduled for the first half of 2024, which underlines the trend. These visits extend over various types of school, including high schools, high schools and vocational schools, and should inform the students about security policy issues, as reported by the website of Tixio ( tixio ).

What is behind this development? The increase in visits is mainly associated with the staff worries of the Bundeswehr and the Russian attack on Ukraine. In this context, the left faction in the Bundestag expresses concerns. The Left Education Expert, Nicole Gohlke, warns that the Bundeswehr will try to make the population "more war -related". Critics fear that this presence promotes a militarization of society, while the coalition of peace initiatives, the education and science trade union (GEW) as well as church organizations demands "schools without a military" and pays an increased focus on peace formation.

controversy around the Bundeswehr in schools

The dispute over the role of the Bundeswehr in educational institutions is not new. As early as the 1980s, there were conflicts about peace education at schools. The Conference of Ministers of Education saw itself as a duty to develop guidelines for teacher training. However, a nationwide regulation has not been properly established to this day. Instead, there are different documents and agreements that have often been created under social democratic and Christian democratic leadership ( BPB ).

Currently around 90 youth officers are active in German schools. However, these must not exercise a direct advertising pressure; Your task is to convey political education. According to the ZDF, they gave over 4,300 lectures in front of more than 100,000 pupils in 2022 and work at the invitation of the schools ( ZDF ). Despite the advertising ban, there is the tenor among the critics that the Bundeswehr had lost nothing in schools.

a changed picture of the Bundeswehr

The public perception of the Bundeswehr has changed in recent years. While many Germans in the Bundeswehr met with distance or indifference for a long time, the attitudes have changed to Ukraine since Russia's attack. The security situation in Europe is tense, which could also increase the access of the Bundeswehr. At the same time, the Bavarian state government plans to facilitate the access of the Bundeswehr to schools and universities in order to ensure the influence on research and development. These steps cause protests by peace movements and other organizations that fear an advertising campaign for military service.

In this stream of discussions, it should be noted that the Bundeswehr's access and the associated discussion about peace formation and security policy issues require parental and social attention. The partners of educational institutions are faced with the challenge of finding a balance between the mediation of security and promoting peace formation.