The quality of public schools in Germany is said to be declining, due to poor facilities and a lack of teachers.
In Germany, where children are exempt from tuition fees, most attend public schools near their homes. The German statistical office says 830,000 children will start school in 2023, a 20-year high.
However, many experts assess that the quality of publiceducation in Germany has declined compared to before. According to DW news site, many public schools are damaged, often have to close for repairs, some schools are slow to digitize or do not have enough money to buy computers and equip students with stable wireless networks (wifi).
The shortage of teachers is also alarming. According to Dagmar Wolf, a researcher at Robert Bosch, the organization that publishes the German school statistics, the country currently lacks about 30,000-40,000 teachers at all levels. By 2030, that number could reach about 80,000.
The reason is that the number of teachers entering the profession is falling, while young teachers are not guaranteed jobs, according to Heinz-Peter Meidinger, president of the German Teachers' Association. More and more people are leaving the profession, due to burnout and poor working conditions.
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) assesses that the German government is investing too little in infrastructure.
“Our analysis shows that the necessary investments in education and research represent a very small percentage of the German budget,” said Claus-Friedrich Laaser, an expert at IfW Kiel.
The results of the PISA (international assessment for 15-year-olds) released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in November showed that German students' scores in math, science and reading all dropped compared to previous years.
A classroom in Germany. Photo: German School Brooklyn
The deterioration of public schools is one reason why more and more German parents are sending their children to private schools, which cost around 2,000 euros ($2,400) a year. The share of students attending private schools in the 2022-23 school year will be nearly 10%, up from just 6% two decades ago, according to the German Statistical Office.
Luisa in Berlin transferred her two children to private school, paying $200-400 (4.8-9.6 million VND) per month because she thought her children would have a better learning environment. According to Luisa, her children did not receive enough support at public school, teachers often called in sick, and almost no child in the class could speak German fluently.
"There are too many students in public school classrooms for teachers to pay attention to. And teachers really can't pay close attention to the more talented children," she said.
However, social policy expert Stephan Köppe of University College Dublin said there was no evidence that children in private schools performed better than those in state schools in Germany. The trend towards private schools was more likely to be seen in urban areas.
“The real problem is not private schools but the structure of the school system. What is worrying is that there is dissatisfaction with the public school system,” says Köppe.
Doan Hung (According to Deutsche Welle )
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