Education crisis in Germany: A system on the brink
In Germany, an above-average number of young people leave school early or drop out of education compared to the rest of the EU. The proportion of young people who only completed lower secondary level, i.e. the intermediate school leaving certificate, was 12.8% in 2023, significantly above the EU average of 9.5%, as a recent draft report by the EU Commission warns. Germany is therefore in the critical range - only Spain and Romania are doing worse.
The number of trainees dropping out of training in Germany has reached a new high in recent years. According to calculations by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), a total of 155,325 training contracts were terminated prematurely in 2022.
Given that 475,100 new training contracts were concluded, this corresponds to a termination rate of just under 30 percent - the highest figure ever recorded.
The increase in inadequate basic skills among pupils is a particular cause for concern. As denounced in the current EU draft for the EU's so-called “Joint Employment Report”, the proportion of 15-year-old Germans without basic skills in mathematics has almost doubled since 2012. An obvious sign of the failure of German education policy.
The results of the international school performance study PISA in recent years in particular highlight the educational crisis. According to the 2023 PISA survey, the German school system has fallen back to a level that it actually left behind 20 years ago. In addition to deficits in mathematics, German pupils also show considerable weaknesses in reading skills and science.
Last year's PISA study showed that around 26% of young people in Germany can only read to a limited extent - an increase of five percentage points compared to the 2018 survey. These pupils are often unable to grasp the meaning of a text or reflect on it critically. There is also another alarming deficit: a recent analysis of PISA data shows that one in five young people in Germany is barely able to think creatively.
This is particularly worrying in view of the fact that creative thinking is one of the key skills for the future. This ability is considered indispensable for coping with change and adapting to new situations.
But what are the reasons for the drop in performance? The main cause is the massive underfunding of the education sector. Outdated school buildings, inadequate equipment, an acute shortage of teachers and insufficient teacher training characterize the picture.
A key factor here is that Germany has particularly low public spending on education compared to other countries. According to Eurostat statistics from 2023, Germany invested just 5.12% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in education - a figure that is clearly too low. In an EU comparison, this puts Germany in tenth place in the ranking of countries with the highest spending on education.
Budget planning in Germany resembles a disaster. While education and infrastructure are neglected at home and savings are made on essential investments in the future, billions flow abroad or seep away in the costly illusions of the energy transition.
The need for refurbishment in German schools is alarming and has become even more acute in recent years. According to the KfW development bank's municipal panel, the investment backlog this year is around 54.8 billion euros - an increase of 7.3 billion euros compared to the previous year. Many school buildings are in a desolate state: leaking gyms, run-down playgrounds and moldy main buildings are not uncommon. Some schools even have to close their main buildings completely due to severe mold infestation. In extreme cases, lessons take place in containers or pupils sit in overcrowded classrooms. The focus on the individual pupil often falls by the wayside in large classes.
In addition, the curriculum is not very practice-oriented and is based more on ideology than on subject content. It seems as if a clear agenda is being pursued in the German school system. From an early age, children and young people are deliberately fed information that is politically correct. Left-green people are brought up who have forgotten how to question and doubt certain narratives they are given: climate action is important, Trump is evil, as is the AfD; the SPD and Greens are good and likeable. Diversity is enrichment, traditional values are racism, and so on.
The gender and LGBTQ ideology in particular, which is imposed on pupils from an early age and is now firmly anchored in the curriculum, leaves lasting damage. From early sexualization, to the destruction of the flow of speech through gender language [Skybird: utmost relevant from a neuro- and even neurolinguistical POV!! Speech structure of any language and thinkiung are hadrwired to each other, thats why I am convinced that different ethnicities and cultures=different languages indeed think differently on a conceptual level]
, to the destruction of the conservative image of the family.
The situation is alarming: high school and training drop-out rates as well as declining basic skills in core subjects such as mathematics and reading are evidence of a desolate education system. The underfunding of the sector, dilapidated infrastructure and an acute shortage of teachers further exacerbate the situation. At the same time, the increasing ideologization of the curriculum acts as a burden. In the long term, Germany is in danger of falling behind in international comparison.
https://www.tichyseinblick.de/meinun...n-deutschland/
-------
If I were a father, I either would send my kids on a private school, or leave Germany - or would not have kids at all. I still was lucky, I had a very good school and very good teachers from class 7 to 11, it also had a good deal history and tradition, ranging back into pre-WW1 times. Many teachers I remember with a feeling of thankfulness, even kind of love.
But when I watch the homepage of that school now, 40 years later, my neck hair is raising.
Again, sign of the times. Things are falling.