Deutscher Bildungs Server

Summer camps in the USA, especially in Texas, are currently a major media topic for a tragic reason: As a result of heavy rains and subsequent flooding, at least 27 children and camp counselors were killed.

Summer camps are a popular form of childcare for children in the USA during the holidays. Children in the USA typically have about two months of summer vacation. However, their parents have far fewer vacation days than in most other industrialized countries. Therefore, childcare must be found, especially during the long summer vacation period.

We offer some further links and literature on the topic here:

• Camp Research (American Camp Association): Zusammenfassungen, wissenschaftliche Berichte, Forschungsberichte und forschungsbasierte Ressourcen aus aktuellen und früheren Forschungsinitiativen.

• Chang, M. et al. (2017): "Assessing Disaster Preparedness Among Select Children’s Summer Camps in the United States and Canada" [Bewertung der Katastrophenvorsorge in ausgewählten Kinder-Sommercamps in den USA und Kanada]. In: The Southern Medical Journal (SMJ), 110(8). 

• Richmond, Dan et al. (2019): "Understanding the Role of Summer Camps in the Learning Landscape: An Exploratory Sequential Study" [Die Rolle von Sommercamps in der Lernlandschaft verstehen: Eine explorative, sequenzielle Studie]. In: Journal of Youth Development, 14(3).

The new dossier from Education Worldwide provides answers to the following questions:

• Where is homeschooling permitted? (in Europe and worldwide)
• What regulations apply to homeschooling abroad?
• Are there countries without compulsory schooling? Which ones are they?

It also provides information on regulations, statistics & reports, on research institutes and interest groups focusing on homeschooling and compulsory education, as well as freely accessible academic literature on the topic.

Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) will take place for the 14th time on May 15, 2025. The goal of the day of action is to inform the general public about digital accessibility for people with disabilities. The contact restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting boom in digital offerings have made it very clear how many obstacles people with disabilities have to overcome due to inadequately accessible digital applications and websites.

The website for the day of action includes a list of initiatives around the world, statistical information on the (lack of) accessibility of websites, and information on various disabilities.

The German Education Server also offers two dossiers on the topic.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump already announced boldly that he wanted to close the Department of Education as soon as he was elected president. While "officially closing the doors of the Education Department may prove difficult", as the National Education Association (NEA) states, "dismantling its key functions and stripping its funds is a very real and present danger" (NEA Today, February 4, 2025). The danger mentioned by NEA on 4 February has now become a little more concrete on 20 March, when Trump signed a decree that is actually intended to strip the Ministry of Education of many of its competences. It should be remembered, however, that many Republicans have wanted to abolish the Department of Education since its founding in 1979/80, most notably former President Ronald Reagan (1981-89) (see a BBC article on this from March 21, 2025).

Read the following articles compiled by Education Worldwide to find out what Donald Trump and the Republicans are concerned about with the central US Department of Education, which services the department should now shut down or transfer to the states, and what consequences this will have for pupils, students, teachers, and parents:

• US Supreme Court clears way for Trump to gut Education Department (Reuters 14.07.25)
• Trump signs executive order in first step to shut down Department of Education (BBC 20.03.25)
• What’s next for the Department of Education after Trump begins effort to eliminate it (PBS 20.03.25)
• How Dismantling the Department of Education Would Harm Students (NEA Today 04.02.25, updated 20.03.25)

USA, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands .... – in many countries around the world, right-wing, authoritarian governments are coming to power or or parties with this mindset are increasingly gaining votes in elections.

What can we expect from the education policies of such governments and parties? What plans do they have for education in their countries? How does education change under right-wing and authoritarian governments?

Education Worldwide has compiled academic and non-academic texts and articles that provide a picture of the influence that right-wing and authoritarian tendencies could have, or in some cases already have, on education.

When even the oldest democracy in the world is threatened by authoritarian tendencies, it is time to reflect on democracy and civic education.

The new dossier published by Education Worldwide therefore offers, on the one hand, characteristics and definitions of democracy from an international perspective in graphics, statistics, reports or international guidelines. On the other hand, networks and projects are presented that deal with democratic or political education worldwide. Teaching materials, guidelines and other instruments for civic education are also presented, especially for teachers and learners. The whole thing is rounded off by freely accessible research literature as well as international conferences and other events on the subject of democracy and democratic education.

The dossier is part of the German Education Server's action week "Citizenship and Democracy - let's do it together" from March 17th to 21st, 2025.

On behalf of the BMBF, the survey linked below is intended to provide an initial impression of the willingness of researchers from the USA to move to Germany [survey only in German].

The survey was created against the background that "the planned austerity measures of the new US government ... are also expected to affect universities and research institutions. In addition, it is to be expected that the government's substantive guidelines, including those relating to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), will have an impact on the scientific landscape. In view of these developments, parts of the US scientific community seem uncertain. In addition to the hope that many decisions of the US government can be stopped or mitigated by the courts, some researchers are said to be considering moving to European institutions to continue their work there."

You can find more information in the introductory text of the survey [only in German] or at Euraxess that is conducting the survey.

The European Network for Educational Information, Eurydice, is turning 45 this year! To mark the occasion, the current Eurydice newsletter is dedicated to the history of the network, as well as to projects that were completed to date, events that were organised, reports that were published and more.

Eurydice was founded in 1980 by the European Commission and is still funded by it today. The network consists of a coordinating European unit and a number of national units that contribute educational information and education news from their respective countries. Eurydice offers, among other things, extensive information on the national education systems of the countries of the European Union (EU) plus the countries that participate in the EU's Erasmus+ programme - by now this means educational information on 40 countries.

"How to empower learners for a democratic future? How to equip all learners with the necessary skills, values, attitudes and knowledge to navigate effectively in the digital environment?" Answers to these questions are to be found in projects and events surrounding the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025.  The theme was decided upon during the 26th session of the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Ministers of Education.

On 23 and 24 January 2025, the Council of Europe is organising the launch conference for the European Year of Digital Citizenship Education 2025. The conference will be streamed live. It aims to "raise awareness of the value of digital citizenship education and highlight its key role in helping build inclusive and democratic societies."

International Education Day is celebrated every year on January 24th. The day was proclaimed in 2018 by a United Nations resolution, which highlighted the role of education for pursuing global peace and sustainable development. International Education Day has a different focus theme each year. In 2025, the focus was set on artificial intelligence – with a critical undertone. Various events around January 24th are intended to deal with "preserving human agency in a world of automation".

Please follow the links to the two main UNESCO and United Nations topic pages on International Education Day.