Text and screenshot taken from https://www.adb.de/news on July 6, 2023
"The 2024 budget proposal jeopardizes the work of the service providers"
Berlin, July 6, 2023
On July 5, 2023, the German Federal Government presented its draft budget for 2024. This included dramatic cuts to the children's and youth plan as well as to political education. Boris Brokmeier, chairman of the AdB (Association of German Civic Education), is appalled: "If these cuts are implemented as proposed, we risk a substantial loss of funding for the important work of civic education."
The Federal Child and Youth Plan (KJP), the central funding instrument for financing the federal infrastructure of child and youth work, is slated for a cut of €44.6 million, or 18.6 percent. The KJP also supports the political education work of associations, including the Association of German Educational Institutions (AdB). The planned cuts would significantly restrict political youth education and would contradict the "needs-based funding of the KJP" agreed upon in the coalition agreement.
The cuts to the children's and youth plan would have a significant impact across the board. Federal-level organizations pass on funding for national and international work with children and young people to their members. Consequently, this would mean fewer opportunities for political education for young people.
This reduction in available programs would worsen if the planned budget cuts for the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) were also implemented. The budget line item that funds civic education providers is slated to be cut by almost €4.2 million, which is approximately 24 percent.
The AdB urgently calls on the members of the German Bundestag to champion political education in the upcoming budget negotiations and to advocate for adequate resources for educational institutions.„
The full press release can be found here as a PDF.
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Ina Bielenberg, Managing Director of the AdB, bielenberg_at_adb.de.
Press contact: Dr. Friedrun Erben, Press and Public Relations Department, erben_at_adb.de