Almost all schools in the district connected to the fibre optic network

With Waldeck-Frankenberg, another district is about to connect all schools. After the civil engineering work at the remaining 49 school locations has been completed, these schools will be successively connected to the network, so that all 68 school locations in Waldeck-Frankenberg are expected to be gigabit-capable by summer. "I already emphasised at the beginning of my term in office in 2019 that the expansion and connection of the schools will have the highest priority. Fast internet is an important prerequisite for the further digitalisation of schools. After all, children and young people are prepared for later working life by using digital opportunities," said Hessen's Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus. During her visit to the Alte Landesschule in Korbach, the Minister, together with District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst, informed herself about the IT equipment during a basic computer science course.

"In Hesse, we have already achieved a very good level of school connectivity. In addition to the funding from the federal government and the Hessian state government as well as the market-driven expansion, the great commitment of the districts has also contributed to this," says Sinemus.

"The last two years have shown us that digitalisation is not just a buzzword, but a social necessity," emphasises District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst. "This process will have a lasting impact on and change our entire society, but especially learning; I am pleased that we have made good progress on this path in a short time, also thanks to the intensive support from the state and federal government."

The Digital Minister referred to current information that the cities of Kassel, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Fulda, Kelsterbach, Offenbach, Darmstadt and the districts of Odenwald, Lahn-Dill, Main-Kinzig, Limburg-Weilburg, Fulda and Marburg-Biedenkopf have already connected all schools under the auspices of the city or district with gigabit capability. According to a survey by the Broadband Office of Hesse as of December 2021, 1,549 schools (77%) of all around 2,000 schools in Hesse have a gigabit-capable connection, compared to only 609 schools (30%) in 2019. I would therefore like to thank all those involved for their efforts and encourage them not to slacken their efforts and to make a final spurt. The Hessian state government is supporting the expansion in this legislative period with more money than ever before," Sinemus concluded.

DigitalPakt Schule
Almost 10.5 million euros are available for the district from the DigitalPakt Schule, of which 2.3 million euros have already been paid out.

In addition to the original DigitalPakt, the Federal Government and the Länder have concluded three further supplementary agreements for digital end devices for pupils and teachers and the expansion of IT support, which are intended in particular to support digital forms of teaching during the pandemic-related restricted school operation. Here, the federal funds (37.2 million euros each) were increased to 50 million euros each by the State of Hesse. Thanks to the 50-million-euro programme of the state and federal government, about 68,000 devices could be ordered and almost completely delivered to the school authorities; Waldeck-Frankenberg has also already received its contingent of over 1,600 devices.