Etiket germany

Kristin Ofer The spirit of 1968 is back in German universities. After 41 rather quiet years of studying the grandchildren of the former revolutionaries raised their voices again. They are protesting reforms to the country’s university system. But according to Germany’s education minister Anette Schavan the students’ prospects of success are rather low. She stated that the changes will go ahead as planned. Tens of thousands of German students have been demonstrating on the streets of major university towns like Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg and they are carrying out sit-ins in 27 universities in 23 cities reminiscent of the student upheavals of 1968. The current generation of students was often considered as eager memorizers who are ambitious for their own careers or hedonistic party-animals without any interest in social or political activism. But in the last years German students had to cope with a lot of significant changes. Until 2005 universities in Germany were free. But the so-called university reform imposed tuition fees that range from100 to 500 euros per semester. Actually, most universities charge 500 euros. Compared to many other countries, especially in the Anglo-Saxon world, 500 euros per semester do not seem much. But the German students are questioning the whole principle of paying for education. There are indeed students who are not financially supported by their parents and have trouble to get the required sum of money together. Tobi, a 24-year-old student of dramaturgy is one of them: “I have to work all my free time to afford my living costs and since the adoption of the tuition fee I have to earn 1,000 euros extra per year. It makes me so angry. I can’t even join the demonstrations because I have to work,” he says. Students whose parents do not pay for their studies sometimes spend more […]