The German Review

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The German Review
The German Review
The truth behind Germany's education 'disaster'

The truth behind Germany's education 'disaster'

The latest PISA study has reveals a dramatic slump in attainment standards among German school pupils. What explains the collapse?

Jörg Luyken's avatar
Jörg Luyken
Dec 13, 2023
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The German Review
The German Review
The truth behind Germany's education 'disaster'
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Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash

A friend of mine works as a primary school teacher in a Berlin district synonymous countrywide with failed integration policies.

The school he works at has a bit of a reputation.

Before the current school year commenced, he received an enrollment list. Half of the two dozen children were German. However, by the time the school year started, just two of the German names were left.

Their parents had successfully sued the education board into giving them a place at a “better” school. Realising what had happened, the mother of one of the two remaining German kids contacted him before the semester and asked tearfully whether her child's future was ruined. The penny even dropped for the parents of a Spanish child, who also disappeared from the list.

By the end, the names that were left were almost all from the Balkans and the Middle East.

This is unlikely to be an isolated anecdote.

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