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Defining the Right to Education for European Citizens (1955–1966)

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Teaching Migrant Children in West Germany and Europe, 1949–1992

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Childhood ((PSHC))

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Abstract

During the early years of the European Community (EC), children with Italian citizenship were the largest group of “guest worker children” in the Federal Republic. As European Community member state nationals, these children fit into EC discussions of human resources and a need for equal education opportunities. Yet, even as the Länder Ministries of Education changed school laws extending compulsory education, they—particularly in North Rhine-Westphalia—emphasized the cultural distance of Italianness from Germanness. Consequently, Italian state advocacy for its students’ access to education as well as cultural maintenance resulted in the development of extra instructional classes for culture. Yet, when the Netherlands asked for similar classes for its citizens, the request was denied as the children were already German enough.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Bambini möchten in den deutschen Schulen lernen: Italiens Generalkonsul Dr. Bocchetto über seine Pläne,” Kölnische Rundschau, February 25, 1964, NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW.

  2. 2.

    Statistisches Bundesamt, Germany, Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1966), 161.

  3. 3.

    Christof Van Mol and Helga de Valk, “Migration and Immigrants in Europe: A Historical and Demographic Perspective,” in Integration Processes and Policies in Europe, ed. Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas and Rinus Penninx (New York: Springer, 2016), 32–37.

  4. 4.

    For a discussion of some of Italy’s non-German diasporas (including French and Belgium), see Philip Martin, Manolo Abella, and Christiane Kuptsch, Managing Labor Migration in the Twenty-First Century (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), 91; Donna R. Gabaccia, Italy’s Many Diasporas (New York: Routledge, 2013), 166–73; Jozefien De Bock, Parallel Lives Revisited: Mediterranean Guest Workers and Their Families at Work and in the Neighbourhood, 1960–1980 (New York: Berghahn Books, 2018).

  5. 5.

    Robert Sala, “Vom ‘Fremdarbeiter’ zum ‘Gastarbeiter’: Die Anwerbung italienischer Arbeitskräfte für die deutsche Wirtschaft (1938–1973),” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 55, no. 1 (January 2007): 93–120; Marc Schmid, “Die italienische Einwanderung nach Deutschland,” in Italienische Migration nach Deutschland (Wiesbaden: Springer, 2014), 249–95.

  6. 6.

    Klaus J. Bade, Migration in European History, trans. Allison Brown (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 227; Nermin Abadan-Unat, Turks in Europe: From Guest Worker to Transnational Citizen (New York: Berghahn Books, 2011), 5–11.

  7. 7.

    “Protokoll über die erste Sitzung der deutsch-italienischen Gemischten Kommission zur Durchführung des am 8. Februar 1956 in Bonn unterzeichneten Kulturabkommens zwischen Italien und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Rom, 9. bis 11. Dezember 1958,” Protokoll (Unkel/am Rhein, December 11, 1958), B 90, Bd. 815, PA AA; “Protokoll über die zweite Sitzung der deutsch-italienischen Gemischten Kommission zur Durchführung des am 8. Februar 1956 in Bonn unterzeichneten Kulturabkommens zwischen Italien und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Unkel am Rhein von 4. bis 6. Oktober 1960,” Protokoll (Unkel/am Rhein, October 6, 1960), B 90, Bd. 732, PA AA.

  8. 8.

    Maryon McDonald, “‘Unity in Diversity’: Some Tensions in the Construction of Europe,” Social Anthropology 4, no. 1 (1996): 47–60; John L.M. Trim, “Modern Languages in the Council of Europe 1954–1997” (Council of Europe Language Policy Division, 2007), https://www.coe.int/

  9. 9.

    As discussed in Chap. 2, in the post-1945 world, ten western and northern European states founded the Council of Europe in order to promote human rights and facilitate communication (predominantly cultural) between the European states. Founding states included Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Greece and Turkey joined months later, with Iceland and West Germany joining in 1950.

  10. 10.

    Including the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom). See Iris Glockner and Berthold Rittberger, “The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and European Defence Community (EDC),” in Designing the European Union: From Paris to Lisbon, ed. Finn Laursen (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 16–47; Joaquín Roy, “All Roads Lead to Rome: Background, Content and Legacy of the Treaties on the European Economic and European Atomic Energy Communities,” in Designing the European Union: From Paris to Lisbon, ed. Finn Laursen (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 48–76. Often referred to in the plural as the European Communities precisely because of the combination of the three major communities.

  11. 11.

    Jürgen Habermas, “Citizenship and National Identity: Some Reflections on the Future of Europe,” in Citizenship: Critical Concepts, ed. Bryan S. Turner and Peter Hamilton, vol. 2 (New York: Routledge, 1994), 355.

  12. 12.

    Eilionoir Flynn and Anna Arstein-Kerslake, “Legislating Personhood: Realising the Right to Support in Exercising Legal Capacity,” International Journal of Law in Context 10, no. 1 (March 2014): 81–104.

  13. 13.

    No one was certain how many children might be skipping school (Bundesministerium für Familie und Jugend, “1. Jugendbericht: Bericht der Bundesregierung über die Lage der Jugend und über die Bestregungen auf dem Gebiet der Jugendhilfe,” Unterrichtung (Bonn: Bonner Universitäts-Buckdruckerei, 1965); Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin, “Nr. 1456 des Abgeordneten Diepgen (CDU) über Schulbesuch ausländischer Jugendlicher” (Berlin, October 18, 1973)).

  14. 14.

    Kultusministerium NRW to Regierungspräsidenten, “Bildung von eigenen Schulklassen für Italienische Kinder,” October 10, 1963, 83, NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW. For the stance of the Italian consulate, see Consolato d’Italia, Colonia and Roberto Cerchione to Paul Mikat and Kultusminister Nordrhein-Westfalen, “14768,” September 27, 1963, NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW.

  15. 15.

    “3. Sitzung Deutsch-Italienisch Gemischte Kommission: hier: IV. Unterricht der deuschen Sprache in italienischen schulen und der italienischen sprache an deutschen Schulen,” Protokoll, January 23, 1963, B 90, Bd. 815, PA AA; Consolato Generale d’Italia, Colonia to Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen and Werner Schültz, “No. 04618, Pos. F-12/19,” March 26, 1962, 19, NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW. The Dutch Consulate in Cologne agreed, explicitly adding its voice to the Italian Government’s in 1962 with a letter stating that it was aware of and agreed with Italian efforts regarding the inclusion of foreign nationals under compulsory schooling.

  16. 16.

    Andreas J. Wiesand, Kalliopi Chainoglou, and Anna Sledzinska-Simon, eds., Culture and Human Rights: The Wroclaw Commentaries (Amsterdam: Walter de Gruyter, 2016), 61–73.

  17. 17.

    V. Mallinson, The Western European Idea in Education (New York: Pergamon Press, 1980), 44–45; Klaus Dieter Beiter, The Protection of the Right to Education by International Law: Including a Systematic Analysis of Article 13 of the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006), 34.

  18. 18.

    Graham Haydon, “The ‘Right to Education’ and Compulsory Schooling*,” Educational Philosophy and Theory 9, no. 1 (January 1, 1977): 1–15; Colin Wringe, “The Human Right to Education,” Educational Philosophy and Theory 18, no. 2 (January 1, 1986): 23–33.

  19. 19.

    Saarland, the final holdout, claimed it did not have enough people with foreign citizenship to make the question relevant. It only changed its compulsory schooling laws in the early 1970s (Lutz Reuter, “Länderbericht: Saarland,” in Schulbildung für Kinder aus Minderheiten in Deutschland 1989–1999, ed. Ingrid Gogolin, Ursula Neumann, and Lutz Reuter (New York: Waxmann, 2001), 334–35). For scholarly engagement with the issue, see Paul Blokker, “Rights, Identities and Democracy in an Enlarged European Union,” Perspectives on European Politics & Society 9, no. 3 (September 2008): 357–74; Karen Schönwälder, “Integration Policy and Pluralism in a Self-Conscious Country of Immigration,” in Multiculturalism Backlash: European Discourses, Policies and Practices, eds. Steven Vertovec and Susanne Wessendorf (New York: Routledge, 2010), 160; Guus Extra and Kutlay Yaǧmur, eds., Urban Multilingualism in Europe: Immigrant Minority Languages at Home and School (Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters, 2004), 93–99.

  20. 20.

    Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen and II B 2, “Entwurf eines Landesschulpflichtgesetzes; hier: Schulflicht für Ausländer und Saatenlose,” Vermerk (Düsseldorf: Kultusminister des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, August 8, 1963), NW 1223-296, Landesarchiv NRW.

  21. 21.

    Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen and II B 2. For an academic discussion of the issue, see Blokker, “Rights, Identities and Democracy in an Enlarged European Union”; Schönwälder, “Integration Policy and Pluralism in a Self-Conscious Country of Immigration,” 160; Extra and Yaǧmur, Urban Multilingualism in Europe, 93–99; Daniel Faas, Negotiating Political Identities: Multiethnic Schools and Youth in Europe (New York: Routledge, 2016).

  22. 22.

    Sekretariat and Schermuly to Kultusministerium des Landes Baden-Württemberg and Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, “Deutsch-italienisches Kulturabkommen: Italienischunterricht für Kinder italienischer Arbeitskräfte in der Bundesrepublik,” November 25, 1960, NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW; Kultusminister des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, “Deutsch-italienisches Kulturabkommen; hier: Italienischunterricht für Kinder italienischer Arbeitskräfte in der Bundesrepublik,” July 26, 1961, B 304/3245/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz. Sekretariat and Schermuly to Kultusministerium des Landes Baden-Württemberg and Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, “Italienischunterricht.”

  23. 23.

    Naoko Saito, “Compulsion without Coersion: Liberal Education through Uncommon Schooling,” in Philosophical Perspectives on Compulsory Education, ed. Marianna Papastephanou (New York: Springer, 2013), 71; John Kleinig, Philosophical Issues in Education (New York: Routledge, 2016).

  24. 24.

    Beiter, The Protection of the Right to Education, 31.

  25. 25.

    Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen and Koch to Regierungspräsidenten in Münster, “Schulpflicht für Kinder ausländischer Staatsangehörigkeit sowie ihre Aufnahme in deutsche öffentliche Schulen,” April 12, 1951, NW 20-483, Landesarchiv NRW. See also Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland to Mitglieder der KMK, “Schulunterricht für Kinder ausländischen Arbeitnehmer in der Bundesrepublik (Rundschreiben Nr. 545/63),” June 7, 1963, B 304/3244/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

  26. 26.

    UNESCO, World Illiteracy at Mid-Century: A Statistical Study (Paris: Buchdruckerei Winterthur AG, 1957), 42, 70; Yossi Shavit and Karin Westerbeek, “Reforms, Expansion, and Equality of Opportunity,” European Sociological Review 14, no. 1 (March 1, 1998): 33–47; Adriana di Liberto, “Education and Italian Regional Development,” Economics of Education Review 27, no. 1 (2008): 94–107.

  27. 27.

    Council of Europe, “European Convention on Establishment” (1955), http://conventions.coe.int/

  28. 28.

    General Assembly of the United Nations, “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” December 10, 1948, http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/; UNESCO, “Convention against Discrimination in Education 1960,” December 14, 1960.

  29. 29.

    Toward that end, in 1963 even as Storz took a revised school law to the state parliament (Landtag), he directed his staff and public schools to treat all foreign nationals as if they were already under the compulsory schooling law. The exception was that the schools were not to dispatch truancy officers or compel the attendance of schoolchildren with foreign citizenship (Gerhard Storz and Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulische Betreuung ausländischer Kinder und Jugendlicher,” Beilage (Stuttgart: Landtag von Baden-Württemberg, October 29, 1962)).

  30. 30.

    See also Erbstösser, “Probleme des Unterrichts für Kinder von ausländischen Gastarbeitern,” Vermerk (Düsseldorf: Kultusminister des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, April 7, 1964), NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW; Kultusministerium BW to Späth, “Schulpflicht und Schulbesuch von ausländischer Kinder, insbesondere von Kindern ausländischer Gastarbeiter,” January 21, 1969, EA 3/609 Bü 70, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart.

  31. 31.

    Gisella Gori, Towards an EU Right to Education (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2001), 320–24. The Treaty of Rome’s Article 128 stipulated that the European Community member states work toward the development of a common vocational training policy.

  32. 32.

    Underlining in original text. Declaration released after their 18 July 1961 meeting in Bonn. See Committee of Senior Officials, Declaration by the Heads of State or Government of the EEC Countries Issued after Their Meeting in Bonn on 18th July 1961, Information Document, Third Conference of Ministers of Education (Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe, September 27, 1961), Box 2428, Council of Europe.

  33. 33.

    Storz and Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulische Betreuung ausländischer Kinder und Jugendlicher,” 4830; Council of the European Communities, “63/266/EEC: Council Decision of 2 April 1963 Laying down General Principles for Implementing a Common Vocational Training Policy,” Official Journal P 63 (April 20, 1963): 1338–41; Kozlowicz, “Schulische Betreuung für Kinder ausländische Arbeitnehmer in der Bundesrepublik” (Bonn: Bundesminister für Arbeit und Sozialordnung, April 23, 1965), B 304/3244/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz; Euan Reid and Hans H. Reich, eds., Breaking the Boundaries: Migrant Workers’ Children in the EC (Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1991), 182. Article 21 signed 25 March 1964, took effect 1 May 1964. European Commission and Luce Pépin, The History of European Cooperation in Education and Training: Europe in the Making—an Example (Luxembourg: Office for Official Publication of the European Communities, 2006), 22–23, 56–58.

  34. 34.

    European Economic Community, “Règlement n° 38/64/CEE du Conseil du 25 mars 1964 relatif à la libre circulation des travailleurs à l’intérieur de la Communauté,” Official Journal P 62 (April 17, 1962): 965–80. As an example of ‘freedom of movement’ influencing member state policies, see Kultusministerium Schleswig-Holstein to Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen, and Kultusministerium Niedersachsen, “Liberalisierung des Arbeitereinsatzes in der EWG,” March 13, 1963, NW 1223-296, Landesarchiv NRW.

  35. 35.

    As defined by the Rome Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms from 4 November 1950, which was amended by Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms signed in Paris on 20 March 1952.

  36. 36.

    Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen and II B 2, “Entwurf eines Landesschulpflichtgesetzes.” They also mentioned Kindergarten at the meeting. Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen, “Schulische Betreuung der GastarbeiterKinder im Landes NW,” Vermerk (Düsseldorf: Kultusminister des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, July 1, 1963), NW 141-114, Landesarchiv NRW.

  37. 37.

    Landesregierung des Landes Nortdrhein-Westfalen et al., “Gesetz über die Schulpflicht im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen (Schulpflichtgesetz-SchpflG),” Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen 20, no. 50 (June 14, 1966): 365–68.

  38. 38.

    III A 2 to IV A, “Beschulung der Gastarbeiterkinder,” May 11, 1965, NW 141-109, Landesarchiv NRW.

  39. 39.

    Bergmann and Kultusminister Nordrhein-Westfalen, “Vorbereitung: 107 Plenarsitzung of the KMK (28/29 April 1965 in Berlin, for TOP 16: Betreuung von Kinder ausländischer Gastarbeiter),” April 15, 1965, NW 141-115, Landesarchiv NRW.

  40. 40.

    Ludwig Wegmann, Italienische Gastarbeiter-Kinder in Walsum in der Schule und Zuhause, Mai 1962, Photograph, 6 × 6 cm, Mai 1962, B 145 Bild-F013072-0003, Bundesarchiv.

  41. 41.

    Rike Römhild, “Italiener in Deutschland,” Italienreport (blog), September 13, 2015, http://italienreport.de/2015/09/giornale-poetico-quadri-9/

  42. 42.

    Habermas, “Citizenship and National Identity”; Dieter Gosewinkel, “Historical Reflections on Citizenship in Europe,” in The Making of Citizens in Europe: New Perspectives on Citizenship Education, ed. Viola B Georgi (Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, 2008), 31–36.

  43. 43.

    Blokker, “Rights, Identities and Democracy in an Enlarged European Union,” 357–74; Schönwälder, “Integration Policy and Pluralism in a Self-Conscious Country of Immigration,” 160.

  44. 44.

    Article 5.1a-c. UNESCO, “Convention against Discrimination in Education 1960”; Kishore Singh, “UNESCO’s Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960): Key Pillar of the Education for All,” International Journal for Education Law and Policy 4, no. 1/2 (2008): 67–81.

  45. 45.

    See Regierungspäsident Düsseldorf to Schulämter der Stadt- und Landkreise des Bezirks, “Italienische Kinder in den Volksschulen des Regierungsbezirks Düsseldorfs,” December 5, 1961, NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW; “Besprechung am 27. Sept 1961 with MR. Prof. Dr. Magliulo and Mr. Finocchi,” Vermerk (Düsseldorf: Kultusminister des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, September 28, 1961), NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW. This general set up was still in place in 1965 under the decree from 13 October 1964 (II C 36-6/1 Nr. 2995/65), see Kultusminister NRW, II C 3 and Bermann to II A, “Unterricht für Kinder von Ausländern,” March 25, 1965. It had changed, however, to state that there would be “5 hours weekly with another 2 possible.” In addition, the courses were supposed to be set up during normal class hours, although without specification of what they were to replace.

  46. 46.

    Yasemin Nuhoğlu Soysal, “Changing Citizenship in Europe: Remarks on Postnational Membership and the National State,” in Citizenship, Nationality and Migration in Europe, ed. David Cesarani and Mary Fulbrook (New York: Routledge, 2002), 17–30.

  47. 47.

    Dante used the Florentine dialect (John Trumper, “Italian and Italian Dialects: An Overview of Recent Studies,” in Trends in Romance Linguistics and Philology, ed. Rebecca Posner and John N. Green (New York: De Gruyter, 1993), 295–326; Giulio C. Lepschy, Mother Tongues and Other Reflections on the Italian Language (Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press, 2002)).

  48. 48.

    The Italian state had been a country of emigration almost since its establishment in 1861. After a brief moment of attempted prevention, the Italian state instead invested in teaching Italian emigrants to be Italian. For discussions of those efforts, see Mark I. Choate, Emigrant Nation: The Making of Italy Abroad (Harvard University Press, 2008); Roberto Sala, Fremde Worte: Medien für “Gastarbeiter” in der Bundesrepublik im Spannungsfeld von Außen- und Sozialpolitik (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 2011).

  49. 49.

    Ray C. Rist, Guestworkers in Germany: The Prospects for Pluralism (New York: Praeger, 1978), 187–90.

  50. 50.

    Schulausschuß der Kultusministerkonferenz, “Unterricht für Kinder von Ausländern,” Arbeitsvorlage für die 88. Sitzung des Schulausschusses am 6./7. 02. 1964 in Rendsburg, Punkt 12 (Rendsburg, February 7, 1964), B 304/2058, Bundesarchiv Koblenz; Rist, Guestworkers in Germany, 187–90.

  51. 51.

    The eight official guest worker states included Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. See Jürgen Gerdes, Eveline Reisenauer, and Deniz Sert, “Varying Transnational and Multicultural Activities in the Turkish-German Migration Context,” in Migration and Transformation: Multi-Level Analysis of Migrant Transnationalism, ed. Pirkko Pitkänen, Ahmet Içduygu, and Deniz Sert (New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2012), 110; Jennifer A. Miller, Turkish Guest Workers in Germany: Hidden Lives and Contested Borders, 1960s to 1980s (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018), 34.

  52. 52.

    Gretchen L. Hachmeister, Italy in the German Literary Imagination: Goethe’s “Italian Journey” and Its Reception by Eichendorff, Platen, and Heine (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2002), 3, 14.

  53. 53.

    Manuel Borutta, Antikatholizismus: Deutschland und Italien im Zeitalter der europäischen Kulturkämpfe (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011), 49; Patrick Bernhard, “Borrowing from Mussolini: Nazi Germany’s Colonial Aspirations in the Shadow of Italian Expansionism,” The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 41, no. 4 (November 1, 2013): 617–43. The Nazi government exacerbated those stereotypes and, viewing foreign workers from places like Italy as racially inferior, brutally abused those workers during the Second World War (Ulrich Herbert, Hitler’s Foreign Workers: Enforced Foreign Labor in Germany Under the Third Reich, trans. William Templer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 101–6; Edward L. Homze, Foreign Labor in Nazi Germany (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015), 58–63).

  54. 54.

    Richard A. Block, The Spell of Italy: Vacation, Magic, and the Attraction of Goethe (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2006), 113–14; Hilal Sezgin, “Wir sind längst angekommen!,” Die Zeit, July 13, 2006, https://www.zeit.de/2006/29/Einwanderung-neu. The idea of the “Knoblauchfresser” (garlic eater) would also be applied to other southern migrant groups, including the Turkish. See Joti Bhatnagar and Schole Raoufi, eds., “The Children of Guest-Workers in the Federal Republic of Germany: Maladjustment and Its Effects on Academic Performance,” in Educating Immigrants (London: Croom Helm, 1981), 113–36; Manuel Trummer, Pizza, Döner, McKropolis: Entwicklungen, Erscheinungsformen und Wertewandel internationaler Gastronomie; am Beispiel der Stadt Regensburg (Münster: Waxmann Verlag, 2009), 7.

  55. 55.

    According to a 1957 UNESCO report, the Italian government was battling illiteracy in an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the adult population: 3.4 to 5.2 million adults. UNESCO, World Illiteracy at Mid-Century, 42, 70. See also Gabriele d’Ottavio, “Germany and Italy: The ‘Odd Couple’ at the Heart of Europe,” Contemporary Italian Politics 10, no. 1 (January 2, 2018): 14–35; Simona Piattoni, Luca Verzichelli, and Claudius Wagemann, “Amici Come Prima? Italy and Germany in Times of Crisis,” Contemporary Italian Politics 10, no. 1 (January 2, 2018): 4–13.

  56. 56.

    Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen, “Schulische Betreuung der GastarbeiterKinder im Landes NW.”

  57. 57.

    Kultusminister NRW II A to Referat II B 2 (im Haus), “II A 36.0/0 Nr. 1090/62,” June 27, 1962, NW 1223-269, Landesarchiv NRW. The Dutch Consulate began this discussion in house by requesting information on compulsory schooling for Dutch citizens in NRW (Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen and Referat II B 2 to Referat II A 4 im Hause and Referat II C 6 im Hause, “II B 2 – 36 – 0/0 Nr. 67/62,” June 12, 1962, NW 1223-269, Landesarchiv NRW). Yet, In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, the government used its 1963 regulations to argue that the government only needed to act when there was a necessity (Kultusministerium Nordrhein-Westfalen and Tiebel to Regierungspräsidenten in Detmold, “Schulbesuch von Schülern, die nicht die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit besitzen”).

  58. 58.

    Kultusminister NRW II A to Referat II B 2 (im Haus), “II A 36.0/0 Nr. 1090/62”; Kultusministerium NRW, Referat II B 2 to Referat II A 4 and II C 6 im Hause, “36 – 0/0 Nr. 67/62,” June 12, 1962, NW 1223-296, Landesarchiv NRW. They did, however, restate that should the Dutch national schoolchildren wish to attend West German public schools, then NRW’s Ministry of Education would foot that bill.

  59. 59.

    Fredrik Barth, “Introduction,” in Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference, ed. Fredrik Barth (Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 1998), 9–38; Carol Weisbrod, “The Debate over Education: Truth, Peace, Citizenship,” in Emblems of Pluralism: Cultural Differences and the State (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002), 138–56; Cornelia Wilhelm, “Diversity in Germany: A Historical Perspective,” German Politics and Society 31, no. 2 (Summer 2013): 13–29; David Bartram, Maritsa Poros, and Pierre Monforte, Key Concepts in Migration (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2014), 84.

  60. 60.

    The Nazi government viewed most (not all) Dutch individuals as Aryan. See Richard J. Evans, The Third Reich at War (New York: Penguin Press, 2009); Jennifer L. Foray, Visions of Empire in the Nazi-Occupied Netherlands (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 59.

  61. 61.

    Statistisches Bundesamt, Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1965), 161.

  62. 62.

    According to the same 1957 study as above, UNESCO estimated that 1 to 2 percent of the population—some 70–140,000 adults—could not read and write (UNESCO, World Illiteracy at Mid-Century, 42, 70).

  63. 63.

    Stolze to Piazollo, “Schulische Betreuung der Kinder italienischer Gastarbeiter,” November 30, 1962, NW 1223-296, Landesarchiv NRW.

  64. 64.

    “IV. Die Betreuung der italienischen Arbeitnehmer in der Bundesrepublik,” Gemeinsame Niederschrift, January 27, 1962, B 304/3245/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz. It was actually not infrequent that the federal government had only limited knowledge of what was actually happening with the schooling of “foreign children.” See, for example, Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminsiters der Länder to Vortizender des Schulausschusses, “Unterrichtskurse für Kinder italienischer Arbeitnehmer,” February 7, 1963, B 304/3245/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

  65. 65.

    “IV. Die Betreuung der italienischen Arbeitnehmer in der Bundesrepublik.”

  66. 66.

    Hans Reimers to Vizepräsidenten des Kirchlichen Außenamtes der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, “Sch. 152,” March 19, 1963, B 304/2058, Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

  67. 67.

    See the Wegmann photograph Italienische Gastarbeiter-Kinder in Walsum in der Schule und Zuhause.

  68. 68.

    Kultusministerium NRW, “Intalienischunterricht für Kinder italienischer Arbeitskräfte in der Bundesrepublik,” II E 1. 02-26 Nr. 3493/60, (January 5, 1961), NW 141-111, Landesarchiv NRW; “IV. Die Betreuung der italienischen Arbeitnehmer in der Bundesrepublik,” Gemeinsame Niederschrift, (January 27, 1962), B 304/3245/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

  69. 69.

    Preamble in the UNESCO “Convention against Discrimination in Education 1960,” December 14, 1960.

  70. 70.

    Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulische und kulturelle Betreuung der Kinder der ausländischen Arbeitnehmer” (Stuttgart, March 12, 1963), EA 3/609 Bü 67, Baden-Württemberg Landesarchiv, Haupstaatsarchiv Stuttgart; Krause et al., “Schulische Betreuung ausländischer Kinder und Jugendlicher,” Beilage (Stuttgart: Landtag von Baden-Württemberg, September 19, 1962). Baden-Württemberg had, as discussed below, actually already passed the law, although it would not come into force until the following school year.

  71. 71.

    “Arbeitsvorlage für die 88. Sitzung des Schulausschusses am 6./7. 02. 1964 in Rendsburg, Punkt 12: Unterricht für Kinder von Ausländern” (Kultusministerkonferenz, February 6, 1964), B 304/3244/1, Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

  72. 72.

    “Manual of Educational Statistics” (Paris: UNESCO, 1961), 39–40, http://unesdoc.unesco.org. Note the use of the male gender pronoun in connection with the supposedly gender-neutral “person.”

  73. 73.

    Preamble in the UNESCO “Convention against Discrimination in Education 1960,” December 14, 1960.

  74. 74.

    Reid and Reich, Breaking the Boundaries, 182. For a discussion of socio-economic rights, see Mario Gomez, “Social Economic Rights and Human Rights Commissions,” Human Rights Quarterly 17, no. 1 (February 1, 1995): 155–69.

  75. 75.

    Evelyn Ellis and Philippa Watson, EU Anti-Discrimination Law (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 104–10.

  76. 76.

    Franz Rodehüser, Epochen der Grundschulgeschichte: Darstellung und Analyse der historischen Entwicklung einer Schulstufe unter Berücksichtigung ihrer Entstehungszusammenhänge und möglicher Perspektiven für die Zukunft: mit einem Historiogramm (Bochum: D. Winkler, 1987); Elisabeth Neuhaus, Die Reform der Grundschule: Darstellung und Analyse auf dem Hintergrund erziehungswissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse, 6th ed. (Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt, 1994); Anthony J. La Vopa, Grace, Talent, and Merit: Poor Students, Clerical Careers, and Professional Ideology in Eighteenth-Century Germany (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).

  77. 77.

    Georg Picht, Die deutsche Bildungskatastrophe: Analyse und Dokumentation. (Olten: Walter-Verlag, 1964).

  78. 78.

    The Greek Ambassador wrote about the “therewith associated national structure” (Ambassade Royale de Grèce en Allemagne and Alexis Kyrou to Kultusminister NRW, “Schulung der Kinder der griechischen Gastarbeiter,” July 30, 1964, NW 388-14, Landesarchiv NRW).

  79. 79.

    Ralf Dahrendorf, Bildung ist Bürgerrecht: Plädoyer für eine aktive Bildungspolitik (Bramsche: Nannen-Verlag, 1965), 48; Rolf Becker, “‘Das katholische Arbeitermädchen vom Lande’–Ist die Bildungspolitik ein Opfer einer bildungssoziologischen Legende geworden,” in Pädagogik und Politik, ed. Claudia Crotti, Philipp Gonon, and Walter Herzog, vol. 6 (Stuttgart: Haupt, 2007), 177–204; Hartmut Wenzel, “Chancengleichheit in der Schule – eine nicht abgegoltene Forderung,” in Bildungsungleichheit revisited (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2011), 58.

  80. 80.

    The Catholic Church advocated for its parishioners’ children (from Italy, Spain, and Portugal), providing some language classes and cultural instruction, as well as some extra religious training. The Protestant Church chose to support Greek Orthodox and Turkish Muslim youths specifically because the Catholic Church worked with Catholic youths. Ulrike Schoeneberg, “Participation in Ethnic Associations: The Case of Immigrants in West Germany,” International Migration Review 19, no. 3 (Autumn 1985): 425; Roberto Sala, “Die Nation in der Fremde: Zuwanderer in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und nationale Herkunft aus Italien,” IMIS-Beiträge 29 (2006): 108–11.

  81. 81.

    Welsch, “Unterricht für griechische Kinder,” Vermerk (Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, September 25, 1961), NW 141-106, Landesarchiv NRW.

  82. 82.

    “Förderlehrgänge für spätausgesiedelte deutsche Jugendliche.” Storz, “Ausländerkinder in deutschen Schulklassen,” Schriftliche Antwort des Kultusministeriums (Stuttgart: Landtag von Baden-Württemberg, February 6, 1961), 1141, EA 3/609 Bü 66, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Initially, the Ministry considered pushing the costs onto the parents, their employers, or the Youth Office, but international norms dictated state responsibility. Storz, 1411; Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulische und kulturelle Betreuung der Kinder der ausländischen Arbeitnehmer.” See also Krause et al., “Schulische Betreuung ausländischer Kinder und Jugendlicher.”

  83. 83.

    Schulausschuß and Reimer, “88. Sitzung des Schulauschusses am 6./7. 02. 1964 in Rendsburg; hier: 12. Unterricht für Kinder ausländischer Gastarbeiter: Beratung über eine Empfehlung,” Niederschrift (Rendsburg: Kultusministerkonferenz, February 7, 1964), B 304/2058, Bundesarchiv Koblenz.

  84. 84.

    Zusätzlicher Unterricht in Deutsch. Nothardt and Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulpflicht und Schulbesuch von Ausländerkindern, insbesondere von Kindern ausländischer Gastarbeiter,” Kultus- und Unterricht, April 14, 1965, 176.

  85. 85.

    Storz, “Ausländerkinder in deutschen Schulklassen,” 1141; Dr. Hahn, “Schulunterricht für Gastarbeiterkinder,” Schriftliche Antwort des Kultusministeriums (Stuttgart: Landtag von Baden-Württemberg, October 26, 1965), EA 3/609 Bü 67, Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart; Nothardt and Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulpflicht und Schulbesuch 1965.” See also Dr. Hahn and Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulpflicht der Gastarbeiterkinder,” Schriftliche Antwort des Kultusministeriums (Stuttgart: Landtag von Baden-Württemberg, November 14, 1966).

  86. 86.

    Nothardt and Kultusministerium Baden-Württemberg, “Schulpflicht und Schulbesuch 1965.”

  87. 87.

    Paul Mikat to Elmar Ulrich, “Schulpflicht für Kinder ausländischer Gastarbeiter,” August 20, 1966, NW 141-110, Landesarchiv NRW; Kultusministerium NRW, “Schulbesuch der Gastarbeiterkinder,” Erlaß (Düsseldorf: Kultusministerium des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, December 16, 1966), NW 388-13, Landesarchiv NRW.

  88. 88.

    “3. Sitzung Deutsch-Italienisch Gemischte Kommission; hier: IV. Unterricht der deutschen Sprache in italienischen Schulen und der italienischen Sprache an deutschen Schulen,” Protokoll, (January 23, 1963), 8, B 90, Bd. 815, PA AA; “6. Sitzung der deutsch-italienischen Gemischten Kommission zur Durchführung des zwischen Italien und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland abgeschlossenen Kulturabkommens, Bonn, 3.-5. April 1968,” Protokoll (Bonn, April 5, 1968), 9, B 97, Bd. 270, PA AA; Wohlgemuth, “Supplementary General Education, Preliminary Comparative Study, Third Conference of European Ministers of Education,” 8. The Italian Ministry of Education was, however, implementing widespread reform, among other things expanding compulsory schooling to the age of 14 and establishing a unified middle school in 1963 (Yossi Shavit and Karin Westerbeek, “Reforms, Expansion, and Equality of Opportunity,” European Sociological Review 14, no. 1 (March 1, 1998): 33–47; Gabriele Ballarino et al., “Persistent Inequalities? Expansion of Education and Class Inequality in Italy and Spain,” European Sociological Review 25, no. 1 (February 1, 2009): 123–38). In fact, the Italian consulate in Cologne informed the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Education that as long as the school transcript included a note verifying participation in Italian instruction in West Germany then the West German school certificate would be considered valid without a test in Italy.

  89. 89.

    In contrast, in order to support those Italian citizens who did return in the mid-1960s, the Italian government officially recognized the West German secondary school certificate (Auswärtiges Amt to Deutsche Botschaft Rom, “Anerkennung der von italienischen Schülern deutscher Schulen in Italien erworbenen Reifezeugnisse durch die Italienischen Behörden,” November 14, 1967, PA AA). The Italian delegation requested an inquiry in 1972 (“8. Siztung des Ständigen Gemischten Ausschusses zur Durchfürhung des Kulturabkommens zwischen der Bundespurelibk Deutschland und der Italienischen Republik, Berlin, 5.-7. Juni 1972,” Protokoll, (June 7, 1972), 12, B 304/3245/2, Bundesarchiv Koblenz). West Germany, in contrast, did not recognize the Italian secondary certificate until the early 1980s. Even then, the agreement disappointed the Italian government as the West German only recognized the Italian school certificate at a lower-secondary school level. The Italian government felt that it should be valued at least at the level of the Realschule (lower level of higher secondary, below the Gymnasium).

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Lehman, B. (2019). Defining the Right to Education for European Citizens (1955–1966). In: Teaching Migrant Children in West Germany and Europe, 1949–1992. Palgrave Studies in the History of Childhood. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97728-7_3

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