Education in Germany

Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual states (), with the federal government only playing a minor role.

While kindergarten (nursery school) is optional, formal education is compulsory for all children from the age of 6–7. Details vary from state to state. For example, in Bavaria, children need to attend school for a total of 12 years (of which 3 may be for an apprenticeship); while in Brandenburg, school must be attended until the end of the school year in which the pupil turns 18. Students can complete three types of school leaving qualifications, ranging from the more vocational and over to the more academic . The latter permits students to apply to study at university level. A bachelor's degree is commonly followed up with a master's degree, with 45% of all undergraduates proceeding to postgraduate studies within 1.5 years of graduating. While rules vary (see ) from state to state, German public universities generally do not charge tuition fees.

Germany is well-known internationally for its vocational training model, the (apprenticeship), with about 50 per cent of all school leavers entering vocational training.

Secondary school forms Germany's secondary education is separated into two parts, lower and upper. Germany's Lower-secondary education provides individuals with "basic general education", and gets them ready to enter upper-secondary education, which in turn usually allows vocational training. It's common to find mistranslations that say that this education is professional, while it is more accurately described as vocational. The German secondary education is then partitioned into five subtypes of schools: Gymnasium, Realschule, Hauptschule, Gesamtschule and Sonderschule.

One, the , is designed to prepare pupils for higher education and finishes with the final examination, , after the 12th or 13th year. From 2005 to 2018 a school reform known as G8 provided the in 8 school years. The reform failed due to high demands on learning levels for the children and were turned to G9 in 2019. Only a few stay with the G8 model. Children usually attend from 10 to 18 years of age.

The has a range of emphasis for intermediate pupils and finishes with the final examination , after year 10; the prepares pupils for vocational education and finishes with the final examination , after year 9 and the after year 10. There are two types of year 10: one is the higher level called type 10b and the lower level is called type 10a; only the higher-level type 10b can lead to the and this finishes with the final examination after type 10b. This new path of achieving the at a vocationally oriented secondary school was changed by the statutory school regulations in 1981—with a one-year qualifying period. During the one-year qualifying period of the change to the new regulations, pupils could continue with class 10 to fulfil the statutory period of education. After 1982, the new path was compulsory, as explained above.

A less common secondary school alternative is the so-called , i.e. comprehensive school. There are two main types of Gesamtschule, namely integriert (≈integrated) or kooperativ (≈collaborative ).

There are also , schools for students with special educational needs. One in 21 pupils attends a .Schülerzahlen Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland. Retrieved 2007, 07–20 Nevertheless, the or can also lead, in special circumstances, to a of both type 10a or type 10b, the latter of which is the . The amount of extracurricular activity is determined individually by each school and varies greatly. With the 2015 school reform the German government has tried to push more of those pupils into other schools, which is known as . A special system of apprenticeship called (the dual education system) allows pupils in vocational courses to do in-service training in a company as well as at a state school.Country Profile: Germany, U.S. Library of Congress. December 2005. Retrieved 2006, 12–04

Students in Germany scored above the OECD average in reading (498 score points), mathematics (500) and science (503) in PISA 2018. Average reading performance in 2018 returned to levels that were last observed in 2009, reversing most gains up to 2012. In science, mean performance was below 2006 levels; while in mathematics PISA 2018 results lay significantly below those of the 2012 study. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Germany is achieving 75.4% of what should be possible for the right to education, at their level of income.

History

Prussian

Historically, Lutheranism had a strong influence on German culture, including its education. Martin Luther advocated compulsory schooling so that all people would independently be able to read and interpret the Bible. This concept became a model for schools throughout Germany. German public schools generally have religious education provided by the churches in cooperation with the state ever since.

During the 18th century, the Kingdom of Prussia was among the first countries in the world to introduce free and generally compulsory primary education, consisting of an eight-year course of basic education,. It provided not only the skills needed in an early industrialized world (reading, writing, and arithmetic) but also a strict education in ethics, duty, discipline and obedience. Children of affluent parents often went on to attend preparatory private schools for an additional four years, but the general population had virtually no access to secondary education and universities.

In 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia introduced state certification requirements for teachers, which significantly raised the standard of teaching. The final examination, , was introduced in 1788, implemented in all Prussian secondary schools by 1812 and extended to all of Germany in 1871. The state also established teacher training colleges for prospective teachers in the common or elementary years.

German Empire When the German Empire was formed in 1871, the school system became more centralized. In 1872, Prussia recognized the first separate secondary schools for females. As learned professions demanded well-educated young people, more secondary schools were established, and the state claimed the sole right to set standards and to supervise the newly established schools.

Four different types of secondary schools developed: A nine-year classical (including study of Latin and Classical Greek or Hebrew, plus one modern language); A nine-year (focusing on Latin, modern languages, science and mathematics); A nine-year (focusing on modern languages, science and mathematics). A six-year (without university entrance qualification, but with the option of becoming a trainee in one of the modern industrial, office or technical jobs); and

By the turn of the 20th century, the four types of schools had achieved equal rank and privilege, although they did not have equal prestige.H. W. Foght, ed. Comparative education (1918), compares United States, England, Germany, France, Canada, and Denmark online

Weimar Republic

After 1919, the Weimar Republic established a free, universal four-year elementary school (). Most pupils continued at these schools for another four-year course. Those who were able to pay a small fee went on to a that provided a more challenging curriculum for an additional one or two years. Upon passing a rigorous entrance exam after year four, pupils could also enter one of the four types of secondary school.

Nazi Germany

During the Nazi era (1933–1945), though the curriculum was reshaped to teach the beliefs of the regime, the basic structure of the education system remained unchanged.

East Germany

The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) started its own standardized education system in the 1960s. The East German equivalent of both primary and secondary schools was the Polytechnic Secondary School (), which all students attended for 10 years, from the ages of 6 to 16. At the end of the 10th year, an exit examination was set. Depending upon the results, a pupil could choose to come out of education or undertake an apprenticeship for an additional two years, followed by an . Those who performed very well and displayed loyalty to the ruling party could change to the (extended high school), where they could take their examinations after 12 school years. Although this system was abolished in the early 1990s after reunification, it continues to influence school life in the eastern German states.

West Germany

After World War II, the Allied powers (Soviet Union, France, United Kingdom, and the U.S.) ensured that Nazi ideology was eliminated from the curriculum. They installed educational systems in their respective occupation zones that reflected their own ideas. When West Germany gained partial independence in 1949, its new constitution (Grundgesetz) granted educational autonomy to the state () governments. This led to widely varying school systems, often making it difficult for children to continue schooling whilst moving between states.A. Harry Passow, et al. The National Case Study: An Empirical Comparative Study of Twenty-One Educational Systems. (1976) online overview of education in West Germany in 1970s.

Multi-state agreements ensure that basic requirements are universally met by all state school systems. Thus, all children are required to attend one type of school (five or six days a week) from the age of 6 to the age of 16. A pupil may change schools in the case of exceptionally good (or exceptionally poor) ability. Graduation certificates from one state are recognized by all the other states. Qualified teachers are able to apply for posts in any of the states.

Federal Republic of Germany

Since the 1990s, a few changes have been taking place in many schools: Introduction of bilingual education in some subjects Experimentation with different styles of teaching Equipping all schools with computers and Internet access Creation of local school philosophy and teaching goals (Schulprogramm ), to be evaluated regularly Reduction of school years ( after year 12) and introduction of afternoon periods as in many other western countries (turned down in 2019)

In 2000 after much public debate about Germany's perceived low international ranking in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), there has been a trend towards a less ideological discussion on how to develop schools. These are some of the new trends: Establishing federal standards on quality of teaching More practical orientation in teacher training Transfer of some responsibility from the Ministry of Education to local school

Further outcomes: Bilingual education now requires mandatory English lessons in The educational act () in 2019 is designed to increase the use of the internet and computers in schools.

Overview

In Germany, education is the responsibility of the states () and part of their constitutional sovereignty ().An overview of the German school system is given here: Teachers are employed by the Ministry of Education for the state and usually have a job for life after a certain period (verbeamtet) (which, however, is not comparable in timeframe nor competitiveness to the typical tenure track, e.g. at universities in the US). This practice depends on the state and is currently changing. A parents' council is elected to voice the parents' views to the school's administration. Each class elects one or two (class presidents; if two are elected usually one is male and the other female), who meet several times a year as the (students' council).