This would encourage our young people to study languages and broaden their horizons. It would also help to bring about a better balance of trade between British and continental universities: the number of students coming to Britain from mainland Europe greatly exceeds the traffic in the other direction. Here, Germany’s statist traditions may lead to a failure to develop the direct financial relationship between student and university, which is such an important feature of the British approach – and which is fundamental to the huge success of higher education in the United States.Different L?er will adopt different solutions, and the process of introducing fees will be modest to begin with, complicated and long drawn-out. The stage is being set for the re-emergence of the world-class German universities which were a light to the world in the 19th century.For Britain, this means beneficial new competition Many German degrees are taught in English. But, as in Britain so in Germany, this marks an historic turning point for the universities and, therefore, for the nation.
Many have expressed an interest in going ahead, and a lively debate is brewing about how this should be done. Much of the debate will be familiar to us in Britain, who are ahead of the game. Was the charging of fees within the jurisdiction of the federal government in Berlin or a matter for the German states or L?er? It is this question that has now been decided by the constitutional court.
The ruling is simple: German universities are, essentially, a matter for the L?er, not for the federal government. But they fall far short of the £3,000 annual figure which most British universities will introduce in 2006.There is also much debate about whether the Land government should set fee levels or only a maximum figure, as in Britain, and whether the money should be paid directly to the university or to the Land. The levels of fee being discussed – €500 (£345) per semester is being bandied about – approximates to those introduced in Britain in 1998. The way is open for universities to charge fees in those L?er that want them.
A new landmark ruling of the German Supreme Constitutional Court has important implications for Germany, Britain and the rest of Europe. In 2002, Gerhard Schroder’s government passed a federal law to forbid German universities charging fees to undergraduates. At a time when public spending is having to be cut, the federal government acted to deny German universities the option of developing other sources of income from students, on the lines being pioneered in Britain and a number of other EU countries. Schr?’s new law also raised important questions about the functioning of Germany’s federal constitution. Or visit .uk to read the discussion papersTHE INDEPENDENT’S LITERARY CANON FOR SCHOOL-LEAVERSTomorrow’s children will grow up in a world that will be more diverse and global than ever. Harwood underlines the importance of film and TV adaptations for young people. Motion points to his own work putting a bank of readings by living poets onto the internet, along with lesson plans that teachers can use.
This is the way technology can revitalise English teaching, he says.”You have to be pragmatic,” Motion argues. “You’ve got to have a balance between imagination and skills, and between using technology and more familiar ways of teaching. And if new things are to happen, you have to make room for them. This conversation has to be aware, at every turn, of how all these high-minded and well-intentioned ideas might seem to the teachers who actually have to put them into practice.”If good things emerge from this fact-finding exercise, which ends in the summer, changes will start to be implemented this autumn, says QCA’s Horner. The authority will not, however, be rushing into changing the national curriculum, though it will be listening to what people have to say.But not everyone thinks the great debate is a good idea Woodhead, in particular, is highly critical.
“The QCA should stick to its job,” he says, “and let English teachers stick to theirs. This is a gross waste of public money.”What do you think? Write to english21 qca .uk. You’re saying if a book’s not on the list, it doesn’t count.”He, like others, is keen to see the media playing a much bigger role in encouraging the love of literature. If society doesn’t value it enough, why should children?There is widespread acknowledgement that today’s media-savvy youngsters need new ways into old classics. Radio 4 is now down to one children’s programme a week, and of that programme only a third is story-telling, he says. “In France, trainee teachers do a course in children’s literature, but here teachers often don’t read at all.
