Joint project WORTREICH by the Palm Foundation and the City of Schorndorf for language education in children.
The Palm Foundation is investing one million euros in better educational opportunities for kindergarten children.
SCHORNDORF. The project "WORTREICH - small voice, big words" begins in September at four pilot daycare centers and is to be expanded to 25 kindergarten groups in Schorndorf within the next few years. The aim of the project is to give all children the best possible language education, regardless of their home conditions. The Palm Foundation is funding the project over five years with a total of one million euros. It is making these funds available to the City of Schorndorf exclusively for the recruitment of additional specialists for language education and for training and further education in this area.
"Language is the central element of child development. It is the basis of all learning and interaction with other people," says Mayor Bernd Hornikel. "I am incredibly pleased that the Palm Foundation is supporting the city with one million euros to create this foundation." Despite its importance, language education in daycare centers is a voluntary service provided by the municipalities. In times of tight budgets, it is difficult to implement it professionally, and not just in Schorndorf. First Mayor Thorsten Englert was therefore enthusiastic about the Palm Foundation's offer from the start. "For me, this project is a matter close to my heart. We have been thinking about a sensible concept for comprehensive, early childhood language education for a long time. We finally have the necessary resources and the necessary planning security to put it into practice." The Schorndorf municipal council and the sponsoring forum were also quickly convinced by the WORTREICH project. The state of Baden-Württemberg has also promised medium-term funding options. But the Palm Foundation does not want to wait that long. Dr. Matthias Römer, Chairman of the Board of the Palm Foundation, sees an urgent need for action: "One of our major future tasks is education, the true raw material of our country. PISA has made it clear once again that the level of education in our country will fall if we continue like this. If children do not have sufficient language skills when they start school, the entire education system will be shaken. We have to tackle the problem at its root.”
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Palm, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Palm Foundation, draws a connection to the Palm Foundation's funding projects, which focus on democracy education: “In numerous projects that we have been running successfully for years, we encourage children and young people to adopt democratic values such as tolerance, taking on responsibility and actively helping to shape their environment. But this only works if the basic tools, language, are available. Without it, there is no exchange of different opinions or living environments and you remain trapped within yourself.”
If people are able to express themselves clearly and actively participate in conversations, they can build relationships, develop a sense of belonging and get involved in society. Language education as a fundamental contribution to strengthening democracy is no small claim. But together, the city of Schorndorf and the Palm Foundation show how they can achieve this.
Facts and figures:
In 2023, around 1,600 children attended a daycare center in Schorndorf, with around 40% having a migration background (MH) and around 30% learning German as a second language (DaZ).
By supporting the functional positions within the WORTREICH project, up to 300 children can receive high-quality language education every year. Over the next five years, around 1,500 children can thus be offered a better chance for further education.
Daycare facilities where the proportion of children with MH/DaZ is on average more than 50% will receive 4 hours of additional specialist staff per group per week. Facilities where this value is over 60% will receive 5.5 hours per week per group.
In the four pilot daycare centers, specialists with a position volume of 1 to 1.5 full-time equivalents will initially be employed. Municipal daycare centers as well as daycare centers run by other providers will benefit from the WORTREICH project.