Germany's Spelling Divide

The classrooms in Germany are still empty as summer vacation continues. Children are not thinking about homework, and most probably they not paying much attention to the continuing debate amongst adults about the new orthographic norms.

As of Aug. 1, though, if they don't watch their p's, q's and other letters, at least according to the new German orthography, then they will be penalized -- at least in 14 of Germany's 16 states.

Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, which make up over one-third of Germany's population and are ruled by the Christian Democrats (CDU), have decided to be more lenient with their kids and allow more time to still use the old rules.

The resistance of the two states may not cause a return to old ways, but they are causing great irritation, particularly since Germany's two Alpine neighbors, Austria and Switzerland, have implemented the new orthographic reforms with hardly a peep.

Criticism from within own ranks

The spelling reform in Germany has created such a stir for many reasons, but much depends on which party is ruling a state and whether the political atmosphere allows resistance. Since educational matters are a state affair, Bavaria and NRW can refuse to implement the agreed-upon spelling reform. Just a few months ago, when NRW was still ruled by the Social Democrats, there was no talk of not implementing the reforms.

Also, the summer period, when the Bundestag parliament is in recess, is often a time to take advantage of the lull in political coverage within the media. Some politicians like to score points in the press. The spelling reform has generated tons of coverage. Some newspapers, most prominently, Germany's leading newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, still adheres to the old rules.

Yet the current head of the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK), Germany's council which deals with educational matters that go beyond state and national borders, is unhappy with the refusal of Bavaria and NRW.

"We have a problem in Germany with all reforms, even with the spelling reform," said Jutta Wanka, a member of the opposition, in German radio.

She doesn't understand why two states would want to opt out of a reform that kids have learned for the past six years. She thinks the two states must realize that it is also a disadvantage to those pupils who leave Bavaria or NRW and move to a state where only the new rules apply.

Deadline of summer 2006

The Bavarians and those in NRW are sticking to their guns though. They want to wait for the final word from the Council for Spelling Reform, the council has had the task of determining just which orthographic changes, if any, should be made -- and still must be made. The chair of the council just happens to be Bavaria's former state cultural minister, Hans Zehetmair.

On Bavarian radio, he said the decision by Bavaria and NRW was rational. After all, it won't be until the summer of 2006 that the possible changes should be completed.

Until then, students in Bavaria and NRW can still use the old rules without fear of seeing red ink on their homework and tests. Those in the other 14 states, must face the fact that they will lose points for not using the new spelling rules.