Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) urges a sober, age‑appropriate approach to teaching about the Iran‑Iran war in German schools.
“Especially in times of international crises the classroom is a crucial space for orientation and clarification” Prien told the “Rheinische Post” on Wednesday. “Children and young people are confronted daily with images and messages from the news, social media, and their private surroundings, which they find hard to place and often difficult to bear”.
She emphasised that “an enlightened, pedagogically guided classroom can prevent children and adolescents from being left alone with their fears and anxieties”. Teachers, she said, provide an indispensable contribution by creating a space for questions and strengthening students’ ability to form critical judgements.
“Democratic education also means enabling young people to verify information, recognise propaganda and tolerate a range of perspectives” the minister explained. “For this reason we must empower teachers to discuss current global political events in an objective, age‑appropriate way and grounded in our liberal‑democratic values”.
