It's finally here: The successor program to the Digital Pact School! The federal and state governments have December on the Digital Pact 2.0 agreed, Another $5 billion in baggage. Sounds like a lot of money, right? But what is it actually spent on? And what changes compared to the first Digital Pact? I took a look at that.
The basics: What is Digital Pact 2.0?
The Digital Pact 2.0 runs from 2026 to 2030 The aim is to promote digitalisation in German schools. What's special this time: The federal and state governments share the costs. half, i.e. 2.5 billion euros each. The First Digital Pact (2019-2024) The countries had to contribute only 10 percent, this time they pull much more.
Most of the money from the federal government comes from the new special fund ‘Infrastructure and climate neutrality’, which totals a whopping €500 billion.
What exactly is the money spent on?
Now it becomes interesting because the Digital Pact 2.0 is broader than its predecessor. Here are the main areas:
1. Digital infrastructure
This is the biggest post. Here are the basics:
- Expansion and modernization of Wi-Fi networks in schools
- Purchase of digital terminal equipment (tablets, laptops)
- Digital boards and modern presentation technology
- Construction of: Learning platforms and cloud systems
For this area, the federal government alone is responsible for 2.25 billion euros, i.e. the lion's share of the funding.
2. Maintenance and support
A big criticism of the first Digital Pact was: Hardware was purchased, but no one took care of maintenance and support. That's changing now! Appropriations should be explicitly for Maintenance and support structures be used. After all, what good is the most beautiful digital tablet if it is broken after a year and no one repairs it?
3. Training of teachers
Hardware alone does not yet make modern teaching, the teachers must also be able to deal with it. That's why they flow up to EUR 250 million the Digital Teaching and Learning Initiative. Specifically, this means:
- Practice-oriented research with Five research clusters
- A scientific Transfer point, which puts findings into practice
- Targeted Continuing education for teachers to use digital tools meaningfully in the classroom
4. Cross-border projects
New in the Digital Pact 2.0 is the promotion of transnational projects (LüV). Up to twelve federal states can join forces and jointly finance projects from a central pool. This should soften the often criticized federalism in the education system and ensure more efficiency.
5. Digital learning environments
In addition to the hardware, modern Digital learning environments not only the technical equipment, but also pedagogical concepts and materials that work digitally.
What's better than the first Digital Pact?
The first digital pact had a lot of money in the pot, but the implementation was a disaster. In January 2020 (approximately seven months after the launch), only a meager €20 million of the €5 billion had been called up. Why? Too much bureaucracy!
Schools had to be expensive. Media concepts Submit before you can even apply for money. Many were completely overwhelmed. The Digital Pact 2.0 should improve here:
- Flat-rate allocations: Municipal school owners can get flat-rate money without having to justify every penny individually
- Less bureaucracy: Simplified administrative processes should ensure that the money arrives faster
- More flexibility: Funds can be used more flexibly
Where else is it?
As beautiful as this all sounds, there is also criticism:
No permanent solution: The Digital Pact 2.0 expires in 2030. After that? Unclear. However, digitization is not a project with an end date, but a permanent task. Maintenance, updates, new equipment, all this costs money continuously. Sustained funding is lacking so far.
Is the money enough?: The Federal Student Conference criticized, That $5 billion is enough to keep it up to date. However, this is not enough for real leaps forward.
Structural problems remain: Money is one thing, but many school owners (often municipalities and counties) still have difficulties in accessing and implementing the funds in the first place. Even in the first digital pact, many funds were not spent on time.
My conclusion
The Digital Pact 2.0 is an important step in the right direction. Finally, money is flowing not only into hardware, but also into maintenance and training, because these are the areas that were painfully lacking in the first digital pact. De-bureaucratization is also long overdue.
But: Digitalization takes a long time and, above all, permanence. A five-year program is better than nothing, but not a sustainable solution. If radio silence resumes in 2030, we will face the same problem again.
Nevertheless: 5 billion euros is 5 billion euros. And if this time the bureaucracy is really reduced and the money arrives at the schools faster, the Digital Pact 2.0 can actually make a difference. Let's see if it works better this time than on the first try!
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