Has Germany's state education system failed?

[TheMightyQuin]

It mentions teacher shortages, but well done on dragging immigrants into it.

It does seem to be ONE of the factors though...

children simply couldn't get the support they needed at the state schools in the German capital where teachers often called in sick and hardly any of the children could speak German. "It was a race to the bottom so to say. There were so many kids that needed special focus that the teacher focused on that ... and there was no individual care for kids who have more talents," she explained.

It is something that should be considered, even though the mention of "immigrants" are rather triggering nowadays.

Comparative social policy expert Stephan Köppe from University College Dublin says there is no evidence that in Germany, children at private schools perform any better than at state schools.


"What is concerning is that it really points towards either discontent with the state school system or so far unexplained cultural changes," Köppe told DW.

I would suggest that everybody actually reads the article instead of merely commenting and reacting.

Some blame the sorry state of the German education system on immigration. Roughly 217,000 Ukrainian child refugees now attend school in Germany.

And the overall the number of students is growing: the German Statistical Office reported that 830,000 children started school in 2023, the highest number in 20 years.

But immigration isn't the problem, says education and social inequality expert Marcel Helbig from Germany's Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories.

"The performance at [Gymnasien, or university preparation secondary schools] where there are hardly any migrant kids has also fallen very sharply. It is more than just a migrant-specific problem that we are dealing with here," he told DW.

It seems immigration is PART of the problem...even though it is always argued against out of a PC of view.

It obviously is not the ONLY reason, that's for sure, but shouldn't summarily be rejected, based on "feels'.

 

[vigras rojara]

It does seem to be ONE of the factors though...



It is something that should be considered, even though the mention of "immigrants" are rather triggering nowadays.



I would suggest that everybody actually reads the article instead of merely commenting and reacting.



It seems immigration is PART of the problem...even though it is always argued against out of a PC of view.

It obviously is not the ONLY reason, that's for sure, but shouldn't summarily be rejected, based on "feels'.

Absolutely - I can't see how a teacher can teach a class if they don't share a common language. That will never work.

So I agree that it's a factor, it's just the knee jerk reaction that is a bit OTT.

 

[MiW]

It mentions teacher shortages, but well done on dragging immigrants into it.

On average, 15-year-olds with an immigrant background trailed behind their native counterparts by 48 score points, an educational deficit worth about one whole year of study. In Germany, the gap between second-generation immigrant children and native students was twice as big: 90 score points.16 May 2006

German Schools Trail Significantly in Immigrant Education - DW​

 

[vigras rojara]

On average, 15-year-olds with an immigrant background trailed behind their native counterparts by 48 score points, an educational deficit worth about one whole year of study. In Germany, the gap between second-generation immigrant children and native students was twice as big: 90 score points.16 May 2006

German Schools Trail Significantly in Immigrant Education - DW​

Addressed above in my reply to Mighty Quinn. Language issues will obviously be problematic in any education system.