Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – The state of Hesse wants to increase its financial support for private schools and better adapt it to the actual student costs. The core of a planned amendment to the law are new calculation bases, explained Minister of Education Alexander Lorz (CDU) on Wednesday in the state parliament in Wiesbaden. According to this, the state’s grants would initially increase from 380 million euros in the current budget year to around 440 million euros in 2024 and 470 million euros in 2025.
Private schools are an important supplement to public schools, said Lorz. “In their spectrum there are pedagogical-educational offers as well as offers with a denominational orientation or classic educational reform orientation.” Without the commitment of the private school authorities, such a multifaceted school system as in Hesse would be unthinkable.
Private schools are divided into supplementary schools and substitute schools. The latter have the same range of education as public schools, but are supported by a church, for example. These schools need approval before they can be funded by the state and benefit from free learning materials. Around 57,000 (around 7 percent) of all Hessian schoolchildren attend one of the 204 alternative schools in Hesse.
Supplementary schools offer lessons that do not exist in public schools – such as training in the field of cosmetics or health, as explained by the Ministry of Education. Complementary schools do not receive state subsidies.
