Even More Good Schools in Germany –
Third Edition of the German School Award

Stuttgart, 22 February 2008 – “Putting wings on learning!” is the motto under which Robert Bosch Stiftung and Heidehof Stiftung, in cooperation with stern magazine and the ZDF television network, have announced the third edition of the German School Award. Prizes will be awarded to seven schools that demonstrate outstanding pedagogical performance and can serve as best-practice models for school development in Germany. The German School Award is the largest competition for schools in Germany and also has the most highly endowed prize (230,000 euros). The competition will open on 23 February, with applications being invited from all general education schools in Germany. The closing date for applications is 30 April 2008.

A total of 651 schools of all types submitted applications for the previous two editions of the prize. German Federal President Horst Köhler and the German Minister of Education, Annette Schavan, personally honored the winners at the awards in Berlin, which, on both occasions, were broadcast live by the Phoenix TV station.

The German School Award is informed by a comprehensive concept of education based on six quality criteria: performance, coping with cultural difference, teaching quality, responsibility, life in school, and the school as an institution that learns. To tap the innovative achievements of the prizewinners for school development throughout Germany, the prizewinning schools will join the German Schools Award Academy for three years.

Robert Bosch Stiftung and Heidehof Stiftung have doubled the prize money for this third edition of the award. The main prize is now endowed with 100,000 euros, while four runner-up prizes are endowed with 25,000 euros each. This year, two new prizes with prize money of 15,000 euros each will also be awarded. The “Jury’s Prize” will honor a school that demonstrates outstanding performance under unusual – often unfavorable – conditions. The “Academy’s Prize” will be awarded to a school that achieves something extraordinary in a particular field based on its very own “pedagogical innovation.”