Saxony-Anhalt’s Ministry of Education plans to increase the duration of school detentions for misbehavior to up to 20 school days. The current maximum duration of five days has been in effect so far.
The Ministry, led by Eva Feußner (CDU), confirmed the planned change to the Middle German Times (Tuesday edition) and stated that the change comes from a “request from school practice”. The background is that schools and authorities need sufficient time to review and implement necessary pedagogical measures in the event of serious incidents.
According to the education law, children and young people can be excluded from school on a daily basis if this is the only way to ensure the work of the school and the protection of individuals. This can occur, for example, when students consistently disrupt regular lessons or when young people repeatedly threaten, harm, or mob their peers.
In reality, Saxony-Anhalt’s schools have had to resort to five-day detentions more and more frequently in recent years: While there were 359 five-day detentions across all school types in the 2021/22 school year, this number had already risen to 525 in the 2023/24 school year. Secondary schools in particular have been using this measure most frequently, with a total of 199 cases last school year. Förderschulen (special needs schools) had a similar high number of detentions with 151 cases.