Brandenburg: “I don’t have to be neutral” – college principal defends ban on internships with AfD | EUROtoday

Alexander Otto runs a secondary college in Teltow close to Potsdam. In October it turned identified that he had refused a pupil an internship with the AfD. Now Otto spoke out for the primary time in an interview and in addition spoke in regards to the threats he acquired after the case turned public.

Otto defined his viewpoint in “Spiegel”. “A school is a public institution that has the task of educating our young people free from worries and free in spirit, on the basis of the Basic Law,” he advised the journal. “That means that anti-fascism is actually practiced. Schools cannot and must not be neutral.”

A tenth grader at his college wished to do an internship with the Brandenburg AfD parliamentary group, however Otto refused him. The AfD subsequently criticized him sharply. There was agitation towards him in on-line remark columns and he acquired loss of life threats. The occasion accused him of claiming that college must be a impartial establishment and that he didn’t perceive his mission.

“This is intimidation,” says the principal

For Otto, nevertheless, it’s clear: “This is intimidation. And it is simply wrong. I don’t have to be neutral, quite the opposite.” He himself hardly went exterior for 3 or 4 days through the peak of the agitation. “I wouldn’t have thought that something like this would happen in this country,” Otto advised “Spiegel”.

At the identical time, the college and he acquired nice help. Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) known as him. “Bouquets of flowers and lots of postcards came. We really enjoyed that, and I’m very grateful for that.” The Brandenburg Ministry of Education additionally defended the director’s determination. The college administration has the suitable to ban college students from finishing an internship in a selected coaching firm.