Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – According to the state student council, the use of gender-neutral language in written exams should not be considered a mistake. Every student should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to change, the committee said on Tuesday in Stuttgart. It is no longer up-to-date for teachers to mark negative asterisks, underscores or colons. Rather, the acceptance of gendering must increase; The aim is for those who want to gender to be able to do so without being ridiculed or judged or having to justify themselves, emphasized the student representatives.
The Ministry of Culture referred to the official set of rules for German orthography, for which the Council for German Orthography is the authoritative authority. “So far, it has not provided for any abbreviated forms for identifying multi-gender names,” said a spokesman. It is important to the ministry that schoolchildren in the southwest are made aware of gender-appropriate language. As a rule, the feminine and masculine form or neutral forms such as “teachers” and “students” should be used throughout. However, there are no different recommendations. The assessment and correction guidelines for the final exams did not contain any statements on gender. It was also said that the ministry was not aware of any specific cases in which gender-neutral language was marked in exams.
The teachers’ union GEW advocates a differentiated approach: in a dictation that focuses on the spelling rules of the Duden, gender must be evaluated differently than in a text assignment in mathematics or in a multi-page essay in which creative freedom must be possible. The topic is also not suitable for the first grade of elementary school, but rather for secondary schools, explained a GEW spokesman. “If the language changes, the school also has to deal with it.” The teachers are professionals enough to set the right standards.
