Nachrichten – Erasmus Stiftung

Political education

School reports like Swiss cheese

Swiss cheese is known not only for its excellent taste, but also for one thing in particular: its holes. What does this have to do with school reports? In Thuringia, a lot, because over 51,000 reports remained „full of holes“. Grades could not be given because in some subjects, no or too few lessons took place in the first half of the 2023/24 school year. According to the Thuringian Ministry of Education, the reasons for this are a shortage of teachers and cancelled lessons.

20 March 2024

Political education

Driving test: One in two fails. An analysis of the causes.

This development is cause for concern. Young people are increasingly failing the theory test for their driving licence. Around half of them do not pass the test on their first attempt.

The theory test for Class B, i.e. the car driving licence, consists of 30 questions (out of a possible 1,720). Topics covered include behaviour in road traffic, traffic signs, hazard awareness, technology and environmental protection, right of way and priority. Since 2010, the test has been taken on a computer in multiple-choice format.

16 March 2024

Political education

„Blue Smurfs“ and „Home“ posted. Police escort schoolgirl away.

Germany is her home and not just a place on the map. Is it still acceptable to say that in Germany? A teenager from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will probably be careful with such statements in future, because the schoolgirl posted this publicly on the social media platform TikTok. As a result, she was taken out of class by three police officers and escorted to the staff room in front of hundreds of her classmates. The schoolgirl was reported by the headmaster himself.

15 March 2024

Current issues

EU Parliament: Gentlemen ask homeowners to pay up

Once again, the European Parliament has made a far-reaching decision that may not sound particularly dramatic at first glance, but whose implications cannot yet be fully assessed. On 12 March, the majority of MEPs voted in favour of new renovation requirements for residential buildings. According to these requirements, their energy consumption must be reduced by an average of 16% by 2030 and by as much as 20 to 22% by 2035. For buildings that are not used for residential purposes, 16% of the most inefficient must be renovated to improve energy efficiency by 2030. New buildings must be emission-free from 2030 onwards.

14 March 2024

online lecture

Special funds, shadow budgets and the decline of budgetary discipline

Available anytime on YouTube: Prof. Dr. Söllner talks about the federal government's 29 special funds. The best known are probably the 100 billion euros for the German Armed Forces. He explains that the „special funds“ are actually nothing more than special debts – bypassing the federal budget. The Federal Audit Office has also criticised this. The special funds are used to circumvent the debt brake. The video is a recording of a lecture given on 30 January 2024 in Berlin.

7 March 2024

Political education

Norbert Blüm: „Pensions are secure.“ Sahra Wagenknecht: „Casino pensions.“ Hubertus Heil: „The principle of lifetime achievement must be reliable.“

Where does the money for pensions actually come from? Currently, the pension system is based on two pillars: employee contributions to pension insurance and government subsidies from the labour and social affairs budget, which now account for around a quarter of the total federal budget and are continuing to rise. Now, the federal government wants to add a third pillar, a „funded“ component. How does that work?

6 March 2024

Current issues

Europe's automotive industry is facing an epoch-making change

Due to European climate policy, car manufacturers have little choice but to focus on the production of electric cars. The limits for pollutant emissions from diesel and petrol engines are falling faster than they can be compensated for technologically. A total ban hangs like a sword of Damocles over the factory gates. In good faith that electric mobility will prevail in the near future, the major European players have redirected much of their production capacity away from combustion engines and towards electric vehicles.

5 March 2024

Political education

Company location Germany: „The last one turns off the lights“

The title of a German tragicomedy from 2007 is unfortunately indicative of what is currently happening in Germany. The news has just come in: the world's largest chocolate manufacturer, Barry Callebaut, is closing its factory in Schleswig-Holstein.
The Swiss chocolate giant, which operates in over 40 countries and has annual sales of over eight billion Swiss francs, is leaving Germany because production here is no longer profitable.

1 March 2024