The DGB Saxony has awarded a negative prize to Minister of Education Christian Piwarz (CDU) for gender restrictions in schools. The "Unequal Opportunities Prize", awarded for the first time, is intended to highlight who is working particularly hard against equality and where inequality and discrimination are actually practised, explained DGB Vice President Daniela Kolbe. In Saxon schools, the use of the gender star or inverted commas in written work is considered a mistake. The ministry refers to the rules published by the German Spelling Council.
"The gender ban at Saxon schools is a fatal signal," said Claudia Maaß, Vice-Chair of the Education and Science Union (GEW) in Saxony. "Because it punishes an attitude and not an unconscious spelling mistake. There was never a need for this ban."