Hamburg’s Education Senator, Ksenija Bekeris, has voiced opposition to proposals for quotas on children with immigrant backgrounds attending German schools. Speaking to “Der Spiegel”, she described the idea as “fundamentally wrong” due to its potential to foster exclusion.
Senator Bekeris questioned the practicality of implementing such measures, particularly in urban areas where the proportion of children and adolescents with immigrant roots frequently exceeds 50 percent. She raised the logistical challenge of redistributing students to achieve a mandated level of integration, asking, “Where are we supposed to find the children for this mixing?
Bekeris emphasizes that learning difficulties are not typically attributable to a student’s background, but rather to inadequate German language proficiency and a lack of prerequisite knowledge that many students possess at the start of their education. She stressed that this issue isn’t limited to children with immigrant roots.
The Senator advocates for a multifaceted approach, suggesting language assessments and mandatory preschool programs for children requiring additional support. Furthermore, she highlights the crucial role of housing and social policy in preventing the concentration of challenges at specific schools. Instead of relocating students for perceived integration benefits, efforts should focus on broader urban development and equitable resource distribution.
As an illustration, Bekeris pointed to the complex decision of where to accommodate refugees, questioning whether placement should be concentrated in areas with existing immigrant populations or dispersed to districts with predominantly native German, middle-class, or affluent residents. She argues that genuine integration begins with this foundational consideration.