Digitale Bildungsinfrastruktur und IT-Administration; Beantragung von Zuwendungen für Schulen

School authorities can apply for funding from the Federal Republic of Germany (DigitalPakt or federal funding) and from state funds (state funding) for the establishment and expansion of IT infrastructures at schools and for their technical administration.

Purpose

The funding program comprises two pillars: Funding from federal funds (DigitalPakt funding) and funding from state funds (state funding).

The purpose of the DigitalPakt funding is to set up and expand interoperable digital technical infrastructures that are conducive to learning and resilient, as well as teaching and learning infrastructures and the optimization of existing structures.

The purpose of the state funding is to ensure the functionality of the IT infrastructures available at schools as a whole so that they can be used reliably by schools for digitally supported teaching and learning. The state funding is in addition to the grants for individual measures from the Digital Pact funding.

Object

Funding is provided for personnel resources, material resources (services, tools/systems) and training costs to establish professional structures for IT administration in schools.

Recipients of funding

Eligible recipients are municipal school authorities of public schools and private providers of state-approved and recognized alternative schools in Bavaria.

Eligible costs

The following are eligible for funding

• Personnel costs for employed IT administrators (federal and state funding)
• Material costs for external IT service providers (federal and state funding)
• Expenses for the further training and qualification of employed IT administrators (federal and state funding)
• Systems, tools and services required for central maintenance and servicing by in-house staff for professional IT administration and maintenance (state funding only)

Eligibility for federal funding requires a direct link to an investment measure from the DigitalPakt Schule 2019 to 2024 (including the supplementary federal-state agreement).

Type and amount

The federal grant is provided as project funding by way of pro rata financing. The federal grants are awarded at a rate of 90% of the eligible expenditure, limited to the federal administration budget and with additional consideration of a partial budget regulation.

The state grant is provided as project funding within the framework of fixed-amount financing. The fixed amount is determined for the respective approval period by annual budgets, limited to the eligible expenditure incurred that is not covered by the funding in the DigitalPakt Schule, as well as a lump sum in accordance with the schools' IT equipment.

• In order to receive funding, each school involved in the application must develop its own media concept (in particular equipment and training plan) and upload it to a central database.
• In addition, the schools must document the current status of their IT equipment as part of the current survey conducted by the Akademie für Lehrerfortbildung und Personalführung Dillingen (ALP).
• In order to be eligible for DigitalPakt funding, measures from the other funding programs of the DigitalPakt Schule (special budget for student loan devices - SoLe, special budget for teacher service devices - SoLD, digital education infrastructure at Bavarian schools - dBIR) are also required to establish a connection with the DigitalPakt Schule.

Application

The application for funding must be submitted by the respective school expenditure provider exclusively electronically using the centrally provided application folder at adminfoerderung@stmuk.bayern.de to the State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs and at the same time to the responsible government.

Approval

In the case of DigitalPakt funding, the responsible government approves the grant by means of a provisional grant notification; in the case of state funding, by means of annual notifications with annual fixed amounts (with subsequent recalculation on the basis of interim evidence by means of an amendment notification).

The funding requirements and conditions are based on the guidelines for Bavarian IT administration funding (BayARn) and the explanatory information (see "Further links") and are legally binding for the funding recipient via the funding notification and the general ancillary provisions as part of the approval process.

Funding procedure

Disbursements from the federal funding are possible through partial disbursement applications for the expenses incurred up to the deadline. It is also possible to extend measures by expanding the planning of measures (amendment application). The verification of the use of federal funding is carried out by the government. After the audit, the final decision is made and, if applicable, a final installment is paid out.

State funding is generally paid out annually by the responsible government after the approval or amendment notices have been issued, with an extension to a further approval year and taking into account the actual expenditure and income incurred and the previous disbursements (amendment notices).

In the case of state funding, the interim statements and confirmations of use are also checked by the responsible governments.

Application deadlines

• Applications for federal funding must be submitted by May 16, 2024.
• Annual applications are required for state funding; the application deadline is June 30, 2024 (cut-off deadline). Retroactive applications from the 2021 calendar year are possible.

Approval period (period for the award of legally binding contracts)

• The approval period and the period of eligibility for federal funding end on May 16, 2024.
• The approval period and the period of eligibility for state funding end at the end of the calendar year of the most recent grant notification, at the latest on December 31, 2024.

Deadlines for the submission of proof of use

• Proof that the funds have been used for the intended purpose must be submitted by December 31, 2024 for federal funding (simple proof of use).
• For state funding, interim proof of use is submitted annually (regularly as part of the extension application in the following year) and a final confirmation of use by December 31, 2025.

In the guidelines for Bavarian IT administration funding (BayARn), general approval for the early start of measures is granted for federal funding from June 3, 2020, and for state funding from January 1, 2021. This does not constitute a legal entitlement to funding.