LOOKING TO U.S. EXAMPLES -- GERMANY'S MINISTER FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001354

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON OEXC PREL TBIO GM
SUBJECT: LOOKING TO U.S. EXAMPLES -- GERMANY'S MINISTER FOR
EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Sensitive But Unclassified. Please Handle Appropriately.


1. (SBU) Summary -- German Minister of Education and
Research Schavan told the Ambassador she wants to make her
first official trip to the U.S. at the end August and also
discussed her thoughts on improving Germany's education
system, including to integrate immigrant populations and
trying to elicit more input from the private sector so
graduates can better meet the needs of a globalized
workplace. She thought experiences in the U.S, would help in
her achieving these goals. The Minister requested Embassy
assistance in publicizing the various exchange programs
available to Germans interested in the U.S. in addition to
the Fulbright Program and was pleased that the numbers of
Americans coming to do scientific work and other studies in
Germany have risen in recent years so that the numbers of
Germans and of Americans studying in each other's country is
now about equal. She is interested in boosting the sorts of
energy-related research activities envisioned under the 2005
Mainz Declaration. The Minister looks forward to Germany
hosting the Carnegie meetings of G-8 science ministers in
December in Leipzig and appreciates the U.S. agreeing to host
last fall when the need to put a new government in place
after the September 18 election precluded the German
government from doing so. End Summary.


2. (U) Ambassador paid his official courtesy call on
Annette Schavan (CDU),German Minister of Education and
Research, May 9. Christoph Ehrenbach, Director for European
and International Cooperation; Gudrun Maass, Americas desk
officer; and a Ministry translator also participated.
Embassy EMIN, PAO, and translator joined the Ambassador.

Reforming German Education/Looking to the U.S. for Examples


3. (SBU) Schavan opened stating she looks forward to her
first official trip to the United States as Minister,
something she now plans for late August. Throughout the
conversation, the Minister suggested she thought there is a
great deal in the U.S. system that could help Germany revamp
its education system to enable its citizens to meet 21st
century challenges. Schavan noted she again and again sees
young Germans coming back from exchange programs in the U.S.
enthused, having found the American culture of learning
attractive. She would like such a dynamic system in Germany.


4. (SBU) Specific steps the Minister listed included
improving early childhood education for children ages 3 - 6
in Germany; Germans traditionally started schooling at age 7.
She also wants more attention on education for children of
immigrant families and again sees this as an area where the
U.S. experiences could help Germans develop the desired
reforms. Reacting to the Ambassador's remarks, she agreed
the German system too cannot concentrate primarily on
providing for those going to university, but needs to equip
all Germans to be able to keep learning after leaving school.
It is no longer enough to let a student leave school at age
16 and think they can hold and keep a job. She also said
while Germans have traditionally looked on education as a
state responsibility, this notion has to change and the
public/community needs to feel greater responsibility.
Schavan noted she would like each school in Germany to have a
school board, similar, she said, to the practice in
Switzerland.


5. (SBU) Agreeing with the Ambassador on the importance of
the private sector playing a role in education to ensure
those coming out of the school system are able to compete in
the global markets and open to further learning, Minister
Schavan said Germany traditionally had a good partnership
with the private sector in developing/executing "vocational"
education, including in engineering. The challenge, she
continued is expanding this sort of partnership to the whole
of the education system. Schavan also noted the Federal
ministry's task should be setting standards which are then
applied at the state (Land) levels. This point is a part of
the on-going discussions in Germany on reforms to its Federal
system.

Exchanges


6. (U) The Minister said she would like to see exchanges
between vocational education programs ) and she included
scientific and engineering studies/work in this category --
in the U.S. and Germany. Her staff noted, however, that
while they had successes finding academic programs, they had
not been able to find counterpart companies. The Ministry
staff also noted some frustration reaching below the U.S.
Federal level in establishing contacts with educational
institutions in the U.S. One success the Ministry staff did
point to was between Koblenz and Austin.


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7. (U) The Minister also noted strong interest in expanding
overall exchanges between the U.S. and Germany. The von
Humboldt Foundation and DAAD (German Academic Exchange
Service) programs have "a great network for exchanges of
young scientists," but it is important, she continued, to
expand that network. The PAO pointed to the significant
activity taking place under the Fulbright Program and EMIN
noted the tremendous volume of scientific exchanges taking
place between NASA, EPA, the national research labs, and
other USG institutions as well as the even greater volume
among academic and other institutions. Maass agreed those
exchanges between the U.S. and Germany number in the
thousands annually, but noted while in recent years, the
numbers of Germans and Americans doing research in each
others, country have moved back into balance after a period
where significantly more Germans were doing research in the
U.S., according to Ministry studies, than Americans doing
research in Germany. The Minister asked if the Embassy could
post information on the various exchange programs available,
including for Americans in Germany, on its website and the
PAO agreed to look into doing so.

Research


8. The Ministry staff noted Germany wants to increase its
ratio of research outlays to GDP from the current 2.5% to 3%.
Among the areas where Germany wants to strengthen its R&D
activities is in biotechnology. The Ambassador noted the
German government is undercutting itself in achieving this
goal through its restrictive policies on pharmaceutical
pricing. He also pointed to the 2005 Mainz Declaration
between the President and then Chancellor Schroeder and noted
the need to re-invigorate the contacts on energy technologies
called for under the Declaration. Intensifying contacts
under the Mainz Declaration could help both countries improve
their energy security situation and cut emissions. The
Minister agreed now is a good time to look at such
cooperation, for the reasons the Ambassador cited as well as
due to the discussion in Germany following the Chancellor's
March Energy Summit, and thought it should be possible to
look at some programs in the run-up to the President's July
visit to Germany.

Comment


9. (SBU) Minister Schavan is considered to be conservative
and close to Chancellor Merkel. During the conversation on
research, she cited the debate over moving away from the old
Schroeder government's decision to phase out nuclear power
and said it is important to encourage young Germans to do
research into nuclear power so the country does not "say
good-by to the technology forever." She pointed to
Environment Minister Gabriel (SPD),however, as the key
opponent to dropping the plans for a phase-out. Although she
understands English and interjected comments in the language
into the conversation, including at one point to help the
Ministry translator, she spoke in German through most of the
meeting.
TIMKEN JR