Elija Walk wants an answer to an uncomfortable question: How much instruction does the state have to provide? The judiciary now refers to politics. How does the former high school graduate view the verdict?
Neustadt. You can see the disappointment in Elija Walk in the courtroom hallway. “I find it relatively frustrating because the same statements keep coming,” says the 20-year-old during a break in the trial. In an unusual step, the ex-high school graduate sued the state of Rhineland-Palatinate because classes were repeatedly canceled during his high school years in Landau. But the administrative court in Neustadt an der Weinstraße rejects his lawsuit.
“For legal reasons, the court cannot answer the burning question of whether the school instruction provided was sufficient to prepare a student for the Abitur,” said the presiding judge. "This question must be decided in the political discourse. And he initiated it. In this respect, the lawsuit was valuable and not useless because it achieved publicity."
“You notice something is missing”
Walk sees it differently. “There was no sentence: We know it’s not good, but we’re trying to make it better,” he says. In spring 2025 he passed his high school diploma with a grade of 2.1. He is now studying social and communication sciences in Landau. According to his own statements, his lawsuit was about the educational opportunities of younger students beyond his own achievements.
Luca and Janne see it that way too. Elijah's two former classmates came to court that day to support their friend. “When lessons are canceled, the first thing you think is: Great,” says Janne. “But then you realize that something is missing when things are asked in the Abitur that were previously only half-baked.”
The case is making waves nationwide
Luca sees it similarly. “It cannot be the case that a lot of lessons are canceled and equal opportunities are impaired,” he criticizes. “That is the larger goal of the process here: that it improves.” Reactions on the Internet from Hamburg to Munich show that the case has long been making waves nationwide.
Walk requested a reevaluation of his performance in German, biology and sports because of the cancellation of classes. According to his own statements, his mother documented the failures over a period of three years. In one advanced course alone, almost every other lesson in the second half of the 12th grade at the Eduard-Spranger-Gymnasium in Landau was canceled, she says. The family therefore had 405 hours.
Homeschooling out of necessity
Walk tried to close the gaps himself. “You have to go through the books in advance at home, google them, watch YouTube videos.” This is something different than teaching. The questions and the learning environment were missing. “It just wasn’t as good as real lessons.” Here he sees the bigger question: What happens when parents can't pick up the slack?
The Supervision and Services Directorate (ADD) had admitted an “unfortunate accumulation of failures”. However, teachers who are absent from advanced courses at the upper level are usually represented by permanent teachers. The authorities do not see any evidence of a disadvantage in taking the Abitur examination. An urgent legal procedure was unsuccessful in two instances.
“The plaintiff wanted to have his Abitur achievements reassessed, but in the court’s opinion this is not possible,” said a justice spokesman in Neustadt, summarizing the verdict of the one-hour hearing. “The only thing that comes into consideration is repeating the exam – that is, he has to take the Abitur again, and the plaintiff doesn’t want that for understandable reasons.”
Reference to protests in France
The former student Walk recalls the youth protests announced nationwide for this Saturday and also the recent demonstrations in France. "The violence is of course to be condemned. But you can see that education is not just an issue in Germany." He has also written a petition with suggestions to the Ombudsman of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament: a uniform definition of lesson cancellations, automated recording, access rights for parents, binding thresholds and independent validation.
Walk's lawyer Martin Malcherek complains that there has so far been little legal guidance in the event of massive class cancellations. “We are in new territory here.” Legally, we need to take a closer look. Because the real question goes beyond Walk's high school grade. What does it mean for educational opportunities when students receive different amounts of instruction?
“Otherwise it’s a paper tiger”
“The willingness to do more for education must increase, otherwise it’s a paper tiger,” emphasizes Malcherek. The aim of the process is to put a finger in the wound. "This isn't a pillory. It's not about blaming the school. But don't we have a gap in legal protection here?"
An application for permission to appeal against the judgment can be submitted to the next instance in Koblenz within one month of delivery. “It’s not the blue sky above us,” the judge in Neustadt put it humorously, “but the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court.”
