Lower Saxony is equipping schools with 170,000 tablets for students!

Lower Saxony is equipping schools with 170,000 tablets for students!

The Lower Saxony state government is well on the way to modernizing the education system. From the 2026/27 school year, seventh grade students will be provided with loaner tablets. The plan is to have around 170,000 tablets made available. The tender for these devices is already underway, and providers are required to deliver the tablets preconfigured, including security software. NDR reports that up to 78,679 students and around 89,634 teachers will be equipped with the devices in the first year.

With this step, Minister Olaf Lies from the SPD is fulfilling a campaign promise that he made in the 2022 elections. The state will provide an impressive 300 million euros in 2026 to implement the project. A total of 800 million euros are planned for the tablet project in the following years. The state government not only wants to promote digitalization, but also expand educational opportunities in schools.

Schools are responsible

An important aspect of this project is that schools can decide for themselves how they want to use the tablets. Teachers are required to develop innovative pedagogical concepts. Education Minister Julia Willie Hamburg emphasizes that the tablets are also intended for use at home, similar to school books. In this way, teaching content should be conveyed both in and outside of class. the Lower Saxony emphasizes that schools bear a certain degree of responsibility in this regard.

To support implementation, the Ministry of Culture is setting up a web shop through which schools can order the tablets. The ministry also offers training and advice to support teachers in integrating technology into lessons. However, critics such as the Education and Science Union (GEW) are calling for more support, particularly through professionally trained staff for technical maintenance and support, to ensure that the use of the tablets runs smoothly.

Criticism and challenges

The opposition, particularly the CDU, expresses concerns about a lack of a strategy for digital education in Lower Saxony. The AfD also emphasizes that a basic curriculum for digital skills is necessary. In addition, the responsibility for the technical management of the devices is critically questioned. Challenges such as the recent incident in Ebstorf, in which 260 students lost their notes and learning content, show the urgency of technical support.

The demands on schools are high: so far there have been big differences in the technical equipment and digital skills of the students between the individual federal states. Studies show that the digital skills of learners in Germany have declined, despite better conditions for digital teaching. Statista reports that the challenges in financing and pedagogical implementation remain while schools are pushing for an overall concept for sustainable digitalization.

Overall, there is a lot to do to advance digitalization in Lower Saxony. However, you get the impression that something is moving. The introduction of rental tablets could be a decisive step in making the educational landscape in the region fit for the future. We can't wait to see how the whole thing will develop!