The money is intended to help prevent school closures in the region.

Starting in spring 2020, the Corona pandemic has posed major challenges for schools. First, new forms of teaching had to be developed to enable remote learning. Now, in the fourth wave, everything is being done to prevent renewed school closures. The member companies of the Memmingen and Unterallgäu Regional Assembly of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce are similarly committed to ensuring in-person teaching by providing financial support to the schools.

“Already last spring, we demanded measures from our politicians to prevent the schools from being closed again,” says Dr Albert Schultz, Vice President of the Swabian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “In addition, some companies have taken the initiative to approach schools with an offer to support them financially to implement suitable measures,” Schultz continues. The result of this initiative is impressive: A total of 20 IHK member companies from the manufacturing, trade and service sectors donated more than 84,000 euros to almost 30 schools in the city of Memmingen and the district of Unterallgäu.

“First and foremost, I am concerned about the future consequences because of the reduced quality of remote learning as well as the lack of specialised pedagogical support and social contacts at school. In-person teaching in our schools is also important for the economy. Employees as well as entrepreneurs are themselves parents who are concerned about the educational opportunities of their children, plus they are dependent on functioning childcare,” explains the IHK vice president about the motivation for this action by the regional economy.

An important driver of the fundraising campaign is IHK board member Hermann Jäckle, who succeeded in winning over additional companies in the eastern and northern Unterallgäu. “Children and youth are our future. They are the apprentices, specialists and managers of our future companies. We want our donations to be used to prevent learning delays and pandemic-related school closures,” says Jäckle, explaining his commitment.

The distribution of the donations was coordinated by Bertram Hörtensteiner, Head of the State Education Offices in the District of Unterallgäu and the City of Memmingen: “The schools have shown themselves very grateful for the support by the regional economy. With these funds, projects could be realised that the various funding agencies are otherwise currently unable to afford,” Hörtensteiner said. Different types of schools have benefited from this. For example, the conditions for in-person teaching were quickly improved by the acquisition of CO2 measuring devices. Donations from regional companies also proved to be a valuable contribution for projects concerning educational support and tools.