Enhancing Digital Teaching's Educator Competence, According to Karliczek
Germany is set to receive funds from the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to bolster its digital education infrastructure. This includes the procurement of digital devices such as service laptops for teachers, as part of a broader digital transformation and skills enhancement effort.
According to Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU), the focus of Germany's recovery and resilience plan is on green and digital spending, including digital education initiatives. This aligns with EU-wide priorities under the Digital Education Action Plan and related programs, which emphasize digital skills and infrastructure as a foundation for competitiveness and sovereignty.
The EU’s combined digital investment under programs like Horizon Europe, Digital Europe, and the RRF make billions available for advancing digital capabilities. At the member-state level, this translates into investments such as purchasing laptops and other digital equipment for educators to foster digital learning environments.
While the specifics of the laptop procurement plan are yet to be fully detailed, the inclusion of digital education as a key component in Germany’s recovery and resilience strategy strongly suggests that funds from the Recovery and Resilience Facility will be channelled towards equipping teachers with service laptops and other digital tools essential for the twin digital and green transition in education.
In a statement to the "New Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Wednesday edition), Minister Karliczek also emphasized the importance of qualified teachers in making new digital offers for children meaningful. She urged states to invest more in the training of teachers for digital teaching, with the quality offensive for teacher training focusing on the digitization of teacher training.
The meeting of EU education ministers is scheduled for Wednesday in Osnabrück, where these and other digital education initiatives are expected to be discussed. Basic questions regarding the financing of the planned procurement of service laptops for teachers still need to be clarified. The federal government is already funding projects within the quality offensive for teacher training that focus on digitization. The states, however, are responsible for teacher training and will need to make further efforts, according to Karliczek.
Teachers in Germany could benefit from the digital equipment such as service laptops, as the Recovery and Resilience Facility funds are intended to be channelled towards equipping them with essential digital tools for the twin digital and green transition in education. To make new digital offers for children meaningful, qualified teachers need to be adequately trained in digital teaching, emphasizing the importance of investing in teacher training in the digitalization process.
