Germany’s digital policy architect Bitkom has awarded the city of Freiberg with its official national “Smart School” seal for the city’s digital education efforts in the Clara Zetkin High School. The high school becomes a national role-model for digitisation of German secondary education, and follows a multi-year investment by the city in digital infrastructure.

Since 2017, the municipality has invested approximately 455,900 euros into the secondary school’s digital capabilities. This expenditure was supported by roughly 283,000 euros in subsidies from various state and federal funding directives, including the Digital Schools Directive and provisions for teacher and pupil terminal equipment.

The funding has been used to install digital panels in nearly all classrooms and to establish a comprehensive WLAN structure. Additional investments were directed toward mobile devices, PC cabinets, and server infrastructure. From the upcoming school year, the school will introduce a mandatory “Digital World” instruction module for sixth-grade pupils to focus on media literacy and computer science.

The Bitkom award recognises schools that combine digital infrastructure with specific educational concepts and teacher training. Clara Zetkin High School is one of 17 schools nationwide to receive the title this year, joining a network of institutions integrating digital and analogue learning methods.

“The award would have been unthinkable without the city’s support and investment,” said David Kirsch, headmaster of Clara Zetkin High School. He noted that the school’s approach maintains fundamental analogue and social skills alongside digital tools.