Every school an island
Or can digitisation in the education system also be tackled collectively? The hurdles are high: financing and federalism stand in the way. And yet there are some promising approaches.
Panel discussion on the topic ‘From isolated solutions to ecosystems: Rethinking collaboration in the education system’ at the Smart Country Convention 2025 – Experts discuss digitalisation and AI in schools. Photo: Messe Berlin
Artificial intelligence is making its way into classrooms – at the Neue Grundschule Potsdam, even fourth-graders are already working with it. The privately run school is one of 135 award-winning Bitkom ‘Smart Schools’ in Germany and the only primary school participating in the Robert Bosch Foundation's ‘AI in the Classroom’ innovation lab. ‘It would be nice if there were more of us,’ said headmistress Wenke Funke at the panel discussion ‘From isolated solutions to ecosystems: Rethinking cooperation in the education system.’ Dealing with digitalisation is often only taught from secondary school onwards, but it can be done much earlier, as her school shows: ‘We start in small steps from the first grade.’
There are many digital pilot projects in education – perhaps even too many? Why is the wheel being reinvented again and again in the field of digital education, and how could a new culture of cooperation between the various players emerge? These were the core questions of the panel.
One answer is that individual schools have very different needs, as Dennis Richter, Head of the IT Department Competence Centre Schools at the Stuttgart School Administration Office, explained. Some of the 148 schools in his area are ‘really going full throttle’ with AI from Year 8 onwards, while others are finding it difficult. His department tries to provide support in all areas: with equipment and infrastructure, and with integrating the content into lessons. However, coordinating with 148 schools is difficult, even when it comes to developing formats alone. Since 2024, there have been network meetings in Stuttgart where experiences with AI in the classroom or with iPads in primary schools are exchanged.
Digital school leaving certificates in three federal states
The Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovations (SPRIND) has announced a real breakthrough: it has developed a template for digital school leaving certificates, which were issued in three federal states this summer. ‘It is a huge success that three federal states are relying on one solution instead of 16,’ said Dr Renata Suter, Senior Manager Business and Strategy at SPRIND. The fact that the Federal Agency is ‘across all government institutions’ and works with clients in a very solution-oriented manner certainly helped. She ‘experienced an incredible amount of openness and expertise on the other side. When you engage in dialogue together, you can achieve a great deal,’ concluded Suter.
Working with ministries in particular can be ‘quite challenging’ because their structures have grown over decades, added Dr Kathrin Meyer-Pinger, who works as Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry of Education in Saxony-Anhalt. ‘But we currently have momentum due to scarce resources: scarcity always creates potential for innovation.’ In her view, a cultural change in the way data is handled is ‘absolutely essential’ for joint digital education: namely, that it is generally understood ‘that this data serves to learn from it, to engage in exchange and to cooperate.’
‘Every form of cooperation and exchange is beneficial,’ reported headmistress Wenke Funke from her experience. ‘We share what we do and also show it to other primary schools. So that we are a beacon, but not the only one.’