Higher Education and the German Coalition

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The new German government has large immediate challenges, from Covid to Ukraine. As the new coalition involves three parties with very different underlying philosophies who have never previously governed together at federal level, nothing is likely to be easy. They share, however, a sense of Germany as a country in pressing need of a necessary modernisation, a word that permeates the government’s discourse and is emphasised as early as the preamble to the Coalition Agreement and symbolised in its subtitle: Dare More Progress.

Unsurprisingly, the coalition is showing a strong interest in education and research. I’ve already posted on the implications for adult learning, workforce skills, and apprenticeships. But the Coalition Agreement also has plenty to say about higher education and research, and these help clarify what it means by modernisation.

First, a simple counting exercise. The Agreement makes nine references to universities and five to Hochschulen (actually six, but one concerns the Volkshochschulen, or public adult education centres), as well as 94 to research and 65 to science (Wissenschaft). There are also 21 mentions of the word Stiftung (foundation), reflecting the importance of research foundations like Max Planck in supporting and influencing research. I don’t think this imbalance is misleading; although the coalition does have ideas for improving teaching and learning, its main interest lies in the potential of science in greasing the wheels of modernisation.

The Agreement is clear on its priorities for higher education institutions (HEIs): “We will strengthen our universities and higher education institutes of applied science as the heart of our research system, and support and accelerate innovation and transfer from the application of basic research”. It specifically commits the coalition to a target of raising public spending on R&D to 3.5% of GDP by 2025, as well as to the creation of a German Agency for Transfer and Innovation to support smaller HEIs. It nods approvingly in the direction of European and international networking, and hints at measures to make Germany more attractive to top researcher from abroad as well as incvreasing Germany’s capacity to engage with China and Asia.

The core of the coalition’s research policy, though, is to generate knowledge transfer. To achieve greater tech transfer, the coalition plans to continue and strengthen the existing Pact for Research and Innovation which provides targeted support for the four largest research foundations, and is broadly open – without a specific commitment – to the idea of a German Tech Transfer Fund. It also hints at a degree of selectivity through the adoption of “the British model” of regional networks (Oxford and Cambridge are said to be the examplars) where “selected locations as lighthouses” have concentrations of top researchers in strategic subjects, such as biotechnology where it believes Germany can be a world leader.

“Modernisation” is also taken to embrace openness to public engagement. It sounds a programmatic note in announcing that “Science is not a closed system but lives from exchange and communication with society”. Researchers will develop their communications skills, and the idea is floated of an independent foundation to support science journalism. There is a commitment to strengthening the role of citizen science, as well as strengthening existing commitments to open access and open science and promising a new law on access to research data.

In a sign of the balance within the coalition, the Agreement seeks to promote excellence and competitiveness along with equity and inclusion. It defines gender equity and diversity as fundamental to quality and competitiveness, and announces new training programmes for university imams. It argues that good science requires secure conditions of employment, particularly for post-docs, and promises that the government will support “modern governance-, personnel-, and organisational structures” along with improved standards of leadership and compliance.

As well as plans for strengthening knowledge transfer and innovation, the coalition has ideas about improving teaching and learning. The Agreement promises further development of the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education Teaching in promoting the use of digital learning, as well as announcing a federal project of ‘digital higher education’ and the introduction of ‘micro-degrees’ to recognise participation in continuing higher education.

And there’s more, but to keep this post manageable I’m selectively summarising those ideas and proposals that strike me as particularly significant. What should be clear is that the coalition partners have given considerable thought to higher education and research, and have reached agreement on quite a large number of policy aims. Their main focus of attention looks to me to be the strengthening of knowledge transfer, particularly for economic competitiveness but also for the social good. It will be interesting to see how these broad policy goals are translated into practice.

Lifelong Learning and the new German Coalition

The party leaders announce their coalition agreement (hint: the Greens aren’t wearing ties)

Germans are used to coalition governments, but this one is different. It’s not uncommon to have three parties sharing power at state level, but at federal level it is new. And the three parties have quite divergent underlying ideologies, with the Free Democrats (FDP, often known colloquially as Die Liberalen) believing fundamentally in strong individual freedom and a limited role for the state while the Social Democrats favour greater intervention and regulation and the Greens have their roots in civic movements and environmental action.

This makes for interesting times. Much media attention outside Germany has focused on possible tensions over the economy, where the FDP will try to promote fiscal conservatism; and foreign policy, where the Greens and FDP are likely to take a strong line on human rights. Further, while all three parties are broadly pro-European, the FDP is hostile to tendencies towards a Euro-super-state, and the SPD is more inclined to share Macron’s vision of a grand project of Europeanisation.

Relatively little light has been shone so far on the coalition’s plans for education. This might not be a surprise; after all, education is constitutionally a matter for each state to determine, so why would the federal government build into its plans something it has limited responsibility for? A quick look at the formal coalition agreement shows that, on the contrary, education – and particularly lifelong learning – is very much part of the new agenda.

A simple word search tells us a lot about the new government’s priorities in lifelong learning. There is no mention of lebenslanges Lernen.The word Erwachsenenbildung, or adult education, only appears once, but as it is a section heading it isn’t exactly marginal. Rather impressively, though, the word Weiterbildung (further education or continuing education) appears 37 times. So on this simple measure there is plenty of interest in both general adult education and in particularly in the more work-related forms of adult learning.

First, let’s look at the section on Erwachsenenbildung. it comprises four paragraphs which start by proposing investment in digital infrastructure for public adult education centres and support for adult literacy, moves on to the simplification and acceleration of recognition for prior learning, includes the strengthening of political education, and promises to promote education for sustainable development at all levels of education. Most of this is uncontroversial, and is in line with the coalition parties’ shared belief that Germany under Merkel has been a slow adopter of digitisation. The emphasis on sustainable development and citizenship education is likely to reflect pressure from the Greens.

Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the new Federal Minister of Education and Research

The idea of continuing education is threaded throughout the coalition agreement, usually in connection with economic modernisation. It first appears on page 5 in connection with targeted investment in upskilling to support modernisation and growth, and is repeatedly used in association with digitisation. The coalition agreement also promises further development of the National Strategy for Continuing Education, with specific reference to mid-career retraining, and It contains sector-related proposals for continuing education in health and social care and early years education, as well as investment in digital competences for teachers, and in knowledge transfer training for researchers. There is even a reference to upskilling tax officers to investigate work in the black economy and financial crime.

As well as the various specific mentions, the agreement devotes a section to Weiterbildung, the opening paragraph of which begins: ‘In times of digital and demographic change, a targeted National Strategy for Continuing Education is an important precondition for reaching our economic and social goals’.

Specifically, this section promises a review of training assistance schemes with a view to to extending statutory financial support for those upgrading work-related qualifications and introduce ‘life chances’ savings accounts that promote participation by the low-skilled; it promises a stronger role for the Labour Agency in ensuring upskilling and providing guidance as well as supporting enterprises in coping with structural change; and it proposes further development of the national online continuing education platform, along with financial incentives for unemployed adults to upskill.

Then there are also a few proposals relating to the initial vocational education system. This interested me, as the Social Democrats tend to be fairly satisfied with the dual system of apprenticeship, while the Free Democrats think it rather rigidly tied into a dated social partnership model and the Greens tend to worry about equity and access. The Free Democrats’ influence is probably visible in the general commitment to simplify the system, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote digitisation of its administration, as well as increase permeability between academic and vocational education. Green Party influence can be seen in proposals to improve access to Master Apprentice training, as well as provide support for people with migrant backgrounds and women to enter skilled trades.

How much of this will be translated into specific policy interventions remains to be seen Rarely in anything in Germany simple and straightforward, and in the case of education – including adult education – much legal power lies with the states rather than the federal government. In the case of vocational education, the social partners – employers’ associations, trade unions, chamber of commerce – also have significant say in what happens. And then there’s the fact that the federal minister, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, an economist who spent several years in the City of London, is a member of the smallest party in the coalition, the FDP.

I’m no specialist on German politics, so I’d be wise to avoid firm predictions. What does seem clear is that while there is a very marked emphasis on lifelong learning as a vehicle for economic modernisation in general and digitisation in particular, the agreement also contains clear commitments to support for public adult education institutions with their broad remit, as well as specific commitments to adult basic education, citizenship education, and education for sustainable development. So the next few years should be full of lessons to those in other countries with an interest in adult learning.