After 20 years of PISA: school system is mediocre and anti-social “Education turnaround NOW!”

dossier

"... Has it been possible in the year 20 after PISA to partially alleviate the social imbalance in the school system? (...) The central findings: "The PISA 2000 study showed that in no country in the OECD was the extent of social inequality among students as great as in Germany (...) Overall, the picture for the primary school sector is one of stagnation, but in some cases also that of a tendency towards worsening social inequality in mathematics and reading. (…) In 2001, the chance of a fourth-grade primary school child from the ‘service class’ (a combination of EGP classes I and II) of receiving a high school recommendation from his teacher was 4.18 times higher than that of a child from the ‘working class’…” DGB announcement from September 1, 2021 for expertise – see this and background information:

• PISA shock 2.0: Students in Germany fail because of social dividing lines – GEW: “The entire school system needs to be put to the test”
  • Result of the OECD comparative study: PISA shock 2.0
    “According to the new PISA, too many young people are achieving‑Don't study the basic skills. At the same time, educational success in Germany remains heavily dependent on social background. The GEW is calling for a radical change in education policy.
    German students are performing worse than ever before in the PISA 2025 study. In reading, mathematics and science, the 15-year-olds tested had “the lowest competency scores since the beginning of PISA‑Surveys achieved," says the new edition of the international comparative study presented on Tuesday. The differences between socially disadvantaged and privileged students continued to increase and are greater than ever since the start of PISA in 2000. In 2025, a quarter of the approximately 6,700 young people tested in Germany lacked basic skills in natural sciences. In reading and mathematics, this even applied to a third of the students. Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU) admitted: “The results of PISA 2025 are dramatic for Germany.” (…)
    The education union once again proposed a master plan to combat educational poverty and social injustice. “What is missing in Germany is an inclusive overall strategy that interlinks school performance, professionalization, equal opportunities, the well-being of learners and teachers and, last but not least, ‘good work’,” explained the school expert. This also includes significantly better education financing. The start-up opportunity program, which makes sense in itself, will remain a drop in the ocean if it is not permanent and becomes part of the system. The GEW had already called for a “master plan against educational poverty and social injustice” in 2023. “Germany has had both a performance and a blatant justice problem for decades,” Bensinger-Stolze said at the time. The PISA published on Tuesday‑Data confirms the union's demand…”Report from GEW dated September 8th, 2026 
  • PISA Compact Special –the PISA 2025 results in the summary and at the OECDPISA 2025 Results (Volume I – Excerpts Translation) 
  • Pisa crash: Germany's students fail because of social dividing lines
    “Germany's students reach historic lows in Pisa. The causes are social inequality and a school system that hardly accommodates differences - and fails to transform diversity into educational success. (…) Pisa 2025 confirms the finding that school success in Germany depends more on the parents than in other countries. This gap has actually been increasing again since 2015. “The connection between socioeconomic status and educational success is about three times as strong in Germany as in Canada,” said Greiff. "In Germany, only two out of 100 socially disadvantaged students are high achievers. Among the socially privileged, the figure is 25 out of 100.”…”Report from September 8th, 2026 in Migazin 
  • hessenschau survey: Teachers complain about psychological problems and learning delays among students
    “Teachers are under pressure. This is shown by a Hessenschau survey of 1,700 teachers at secondary schools. There is less and less time for actual lessons because they have to help children with basic things…”Contribution by Alicia Lindhoff, Mia von Hirsch and Johan Gallwitz from September 8th, 2026 on hessenschau.de 
  • GEW on PISA: “The entire school system needs to be examined” – education union declares education policy of the last 25 years to have failed
    "In view of the results of the PISA 2025 study published today, the Education and Science Union (GEW) is calling for a radical reversal of educational policy. The study gives Germany a devastating report, especially when it comes to the issue of educational equality. The gap between advantaged and disadvantaged young people in the natural sciences is 125 points, well above the OECD average of 85 points. The socio-economic background explains 19 percent of the differences in scientific performance in Germany. This means that the value is almost two thirds above the OECD average of 11.6 percent. Only five of the 90 countries surveyed perform even worse. “The bottom line is that a quarter of a century of PISA measures have achieved nothing,” says Anja Bensinger-Stolze, GEW board member for schools. After 25 years, educational success in Germany still depends more on the parents than in almost any other country. "It is a real scandal that we in Germany still have such problems with inequality of opportunity and educational injustice. Despite all the surveys and the tinkering of politicians, the school system does virtually nothing to mitigate the strong connection between education and social background. On the contrary: it cements and even strengthens it." After the “PISA shock” in 2001, educational quality was defined primarily through standards, tests and comparisons, criticizes Bensinger-Stolze. This was primarily at the expense of pedagogical diversity, social goals and good learning and working conditions. “Financial and personnel problems were delayed for many years.We see the dramatic consequences in all schools today: staff shortages, overwork and a blatant neglect of occupational health and safety.” (…) The GEW proposes a master plan against educational poverty and social injustice. “What is missing in Germany is an inclusive overall strategy that interlinks school performance, professionalization, equal opportunities, the well-being of learners and teachers and, last but not least, ‘good work’,” said the GEW board member. In addition to structural measures, this included more and more effective support for all children as well as better learning and working conditions in schools and significantly better education financing. The start-up opportunity program, which makes sense in itself, will remain a drop in the ocean if it is not permanent and becomes part of the system - not as a data-driven, but as an inclusive strategy project. “The entire school system now needs to be put to the test, at the latest after this PISA educational poverty certificate,” demands Bensinger-Stolze. “If our education policy were now 25 years old like the PISA study and had gone through our education system, she would be without a qualification and unemployed today,” she sums up the situation.” GEW press release from September 8, 2026 
• A complicated patchwork: the German education system proves to be cumbersome and in need of reform when compared internationally
  "There are courses that have been set differently in German education policy. That is why the country has only performed mediocre in international learning status surveys for years. Recently, Germany slipped even further in the OECD's Pisa comparison. A study by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLS) provides information about what is lacking in Germany, which compared the education systems of four countries: Finland and Estonia, which have performed successfully in the Pisa studies in recent years Germany and Spain, which were in the middle of the comparison, can be attributed to the lack of equal opportunities, which is stated as a goal by every government, but in reality, educational success still depends largely on where you come from. In order to significantly improve educational opportunities, sufficient funding is important, explained Katrin Schäfgen, education policy advisor at the RLS the presentation of the RLS study on Wednesday. But "Money alone does not make for good education." (...) But if money is not the only decisive factor for educational success in the respective countries, what explanation can be found in the structure of the school systems: In Estonia and Finland, students go to school together for nine years, and only then do the educational paths split into a vocational and an academic qualification. In Germany, on the other hand, the primary school period only lasts four years.The six-year primary school only exists in Berlin and Brandenburg. A study by the Ifo Institute recently showed that a longer shared primary school period leads to more equal opportunities. This particularly benefits students who do not have a bonus from their parents. Private schools are also playing an increasing role in the educational landscape in Germany; almost every tenth child is now educated in a non-state institution. According to the constitution, students may not be selected based on their parents' assets. However, this is not sufficiently checked by the federal states, complained Schäfgen. As a rule, school fees are paid there, so there is a selection. The situation is different in Finland and Estonia, where there are almost no private schools. Both countries also have another structural difference from Germany: there the state sets the curriculum and the schools have a lot of autonomy in implementing the set goals. In Germany, however, the content is determined by the states. (…) In view of the very different initial situations for schools, Schäfgen recommends that the federal government be given greater responsibility again. With the federalism reform of 2008 there is a de facto ban on cooperation. This was supposed to guarantee the states sovereignty over education, but it had proven to be counterproductive, explained the education officer...” Article by Stefan Otto from April 3, 2025 in New Germany online 
  • For details see the 66-page RSL study by Katrin Schäfgen (ed.):'European education systems between equity and selectivity - Germany compared to Estonia, Spain and Finland' from April 2025
• Does contemporary teacher training involve trainee teachers competing for the best breakfast for the teaching sample examination committee?
  “Instructors make it clear that it is expected”: Young teachers feel humiliated by ritual
  Candidate teachers often have to undergo a strange custom. This is actually forbidden
  Rolls, cold cuts and good orange juice: Yvonne Walters had thought of everything. Actually, the then trainee teacher only wanted to have pedagogical concepts, German and math in her head on the day of her final exam. But in addition to all the exam stress, she also had to prepare breakfast early in the morning - for her examiners. “We were told that we had better come up with something good,” said Walters. Today the young woman works at a primary school in North Rhine-Westphalia. Because she doesn't want to have problems with her employer, her real name is not shown here. She represents numerous young teachers, all of whom report on a ritual that is actually strictly forbidden. And they all feel pressured by it. (…) The ritual is often part of the so-called teaching rehearsal. An examination committee visits the trainee teachers in a lesson to assess: How does the young teacher interact with students? Is she professionally suitable? An important test that sometimes decides the fate or fate of a career. Some of the training takes place at the centers for practical teacher training (ZfsL). And there, many people hear about the breakfast ritual, and for some the announcement comes from the respective schools. “The instructors made it clear that this was expected,” Walters said. To some extent she found it humiliating to have to butter the examiners in the morning. “The staff often throws together so that the examinees at least don’t have to pay for everything themselves,” says Walters. The Education and Science Union (GEW) is aware of the strange custom.“Yes, this practice is known,” says Anja Bensinger-Stolze, GEW board member, to IPPEN.MEDIA. “There is generally no regular requirement, but it has become established in some federal states, districts and districts over the years.” At some point, the competition for the best breakfast for the examiners became increasingly large. (…) Do young people perhaps feel deterred from taking up the teaching profession by such practices? "No, because you usually only find out about this ritual during your traineeship or even shortly before the exam. That won't deter anyone from studying to be a teacher and do a traineeship," believes Anja Bensinger-Stolze from the GEW. But: “The spirit behind it can, however, be an overall hindrance to completing a traineeship in an open and good learning atmosphere.” Article by Peter Sieben from August 16, 2024 in the Frankfurter Rundschau online (“Instructors make it clear it is expected”: Young teachers feel humiliated by ritual)
• The educational transition continues - there are now 200 organizations in the “Education Transition NOW!” alliance.
  “The alliance “Educational Transition NOW!” addresses all those affected by education: students, employees and parents. 200 organizations now support our demands.
  OUR SOCIETY IS EXPERIENCING one of the most serious educational crises since the founding of the Federal Republic.” This is how the appeal “Education turnaround NOW!”, published on June 1, 2023, begins, around which our alliance of the same name was formed. Unfortunately, this sentence is still true. The education crisis affects many: students, teachers, educators, other employees at schools and daycare centers, parents, grandparents and student teachers. (…) What’s special about “Educational Transition NOW!” is our approach to bringing together different groups of those affected by education. We address organizations that can join the alliance and invite directly affected parents, pupils, employees and students to get involved locally or nationwide. All of these groups would benefit from a turnaround in education. Our society as a whole would also benefit from a fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable education system. “Education change NOW!” wants to achieve exactly this goal. We are not a pure protest alliance, but have presented four central demands with sub-demands that are intended to initiate the urgently needed change in education. (…)We cannot understand the attempt to describe this alliance as “left-wing unionism”. “Education change NOW!” is non-partisan, we are holding discussions with representatives of all democratic parties represented in the Bundestag. The claim that important actors such as teachers' associations were not involved from the outset is also not true in this form. We were or are in contact with representatives of VBE, VRB and the Philologists' Association regarding the educational transition.We are also in contact with the “Restart Education Now” alliance. (…) The education protest in 2024 followed a different pattern and should not be a copy of the protest from the previous year. Instead of an initial single day of protest with tens of thousands of participants on June 8th, the alliance decided on a rolling educational protest. The reason for this was planned large democracy protests on the same day, with which we did not want to compete in terms of content or location. (…) Over 50,000 young people leave school every year without a qualification, and the number is rising. Shortages are being managed and educational inequity is increasing. (Mental) health suffers and performance declines. We have put thousands of hours of volunteer work into building this educational movement over the past few months and will continue to do so in the future. We invite everyone affected and interested in education to join and contribute. The educational transition is currently in its summer break, after which it will pick up speed again and continue rolling towards 2025.” Guest article from the team of speakers and the coordination group at the nationwide alliance “Educational Transition NOW!” from August 6, 2024 at jmwiarda.de – the concentration on parties without (left-wing) trade unions is a bit strange...
  • The individual demands including the appeal of the “Educational Transition NOW!” arehere to find.
• Open letter on the 2025 federal budget: “The education system is under enormous pressure” – GEW is calling for a special education fund worth 100 billion euros
  "The GEW today addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) with an open letter on the 2025 federal budget. In its letter, the education union urgently warns of the consequences of possible cuts in the education sector. "Democracy needs education and education needs democracy," emphasized GEW chairman Maike Finnern on behalf of the main board and all 16 GEW regional associations. She again campaigned for a “special education fund worth 100 billion euros”. "In addition, we need financial resources for the Kita Quality Act, a strengthening of children and youth planning funds, projects for political education, such as 'Living Democracy!', a digital pact 2.0 and an all-day quality law. A weakening of civil society structures is the absolutely wrong signal," emphasized Finnern in the letter. Despite increased spending, there is still a high level of investment backlog in the education system, meaning that systemic improvements are lacking. The Credit Union for Reconstruction (KfW) currently estimates this at 67.5 billion euros for municipal educational institutions and schools nationwide alone. (…) "That's why we call on you: Take your responsibility seriously and actively steer the planning and consultations on the 2025 federal budget draft. It is urgently necessary to invest comprehensively in the children and young people of our society. Restrictive budget targets and strict austerity dictates are putting social cohesion at risk," emphasized Finnern.She emphasized that the educators and the GEW are still willing to do their part to ensure a good education for future generations...” GEW press release from June 26, 2024 for theOpen letter 
• The alliance “Educational Transition NOW!” calls for a nationwide education protest around June 1st
  • We want to take to the streets together in different federal states!
    "Our society is currently experiencing one of the most serious educational crises since the founding of the Federal Republic. An enormous and growing shortage of teachers and educators meets an outdated, underfunded and segregated education system. Berlin schools alone are missing over 1,000 teachers. Educators sometimes have to look after 100 children all day.
    – There is a nationwide shortage of hundreds of thousands of daycare places and over 300,000 educators to ensure adequate care and an appropriate childcare ratio. We also feel this every day in Berlin.
    - And anyone who doesn't properly accompany their little ones, fills classes with more and more people and wants to make cuts in education, like the current Berlin Senate, shouldn't be surprised if conflicts and stress in education increase and health and performance decline.
    What is it like for you at daycare or school? How do you experience the education crisis?We're leaving on June 1st. take to the streets together to demand that we move away from the educational crisis and towards a real #educational turnaround! And we are not alone, students, parents, educators and teachers are also taking to the streets together in other federal states….”Call and all information on the alliance website 
  • June 1, 2024: Days of protest for an educational turnaround
    Call and information at GEW 
  • [Petition] Education change NOW! – Train more educators and teachers
    “We all feel it: the education system is in one of the biggest crises in a long time. There is a shortage of tens of thousands of educators and teachers in Germany. Urgent investments in the ailing system are being cut at every turn. The lack of staff and overcrowded, old-fashioned curricula prevent future-oriented, inclusive education. We, those affected by education, have to bear the consequences. The actual educational goals – equal opportunities and humanity, healthy learning and working, preparation for life and a fair future – disappear behind the everyday educational crisis. The past has shown that you cannot rely on joint solutions from the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. That's why education must become a top priority! In its coalition agreement, the traffic light government agreed to convene a national education summit with civil society. To date, she has not implemented this promise. We therefore demand:
    – a national education summit at eye level convened by the Chancellor in consultation with the Prime Minister by the end of 2024, at which we as those affected by education have a say, participate and help shape it, and
    – an immediate training offensive for educators and teachers that creates attractive training conditions, conveys modern educational content, enables inclusive education and prepares you well for the reality of everyday work…”Petition from the Alliance for Education Transition NOW! to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) and the Prime Ministers of the federal states
• International school performance study PISA 2022: “PISA results reflect a shortage of teachers and skilled workers” (GEW)
  “In view of the sobering PISA findings, the Education and Science Union (GEW) urgently calls for consistent individual support for children and young people. To achieve this, efforts to effectively combat the shortage of teaching and skilled workers would have to be significantly increased. The GEW is also proposing a master plan to combat educational poverty and social injustice. The education union describes the fact that the dependence of the school performance of children and young people on their parents has not decreased for over 20 years as a “scandal”. "The PISA results are very problematic for the life and career prospects of many students and are shameful for school policy," said Anja Bensinger-Stolze, GEW school board member, on Tuesday in Frankfurt a.M. "Germany has had both an achievement problem and a blatant justice problem for decades. The fatal thing is: after a few slight improvements in the PISA rounds in the 2000s, we are unchecked and back to the level we were before 22 years ago. This is a school policy fallout.” Bensinger-Stolze suggested, among other things, consistent promotion of basic skills that does not stop after primary school or at the school gate, and called for social hurdles to be reduced in the school system…”GEW press release from December 5th, 2023 
  • SeePisa at the OECDand therePisa 2022 in German with different evaluations
• Nationwide protest day “Education turnaround NOW!” on September 23, 2023: School Must Be Different 
  “More and more schools and daycare centers are unable to fulfill their educational mission. That's why we're going on September 23rd. School and daycare workers nationwide, as well as schoolchildren, parents and students, are taking to the streets to demand a way out of the education crisis.
  The new school year has started, and the educational crisis is becoming increasingly acute. Tens of thousands of teachers are missing. Around 50,000 young people already leave school every year without a qualification. More than 300,000 additional educators are missing to offer a sufficient number of daycare places with an appropriate childcare ratio.
  Outdated, underfunded, socially unfair
  Many colleagues are working at their limits and beyond. The outdated, underfunded and socially unjust education system makes people sick and robs many young people of future opportunities. The forecasts make it clear that the problems will not solve themselves: according to studies by education researcher Klaus Klemm, there will be a shortage of around 160,000 teachers by 2035.
  At the beginning of the year, the Standing Scientific Commission of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs suggested limiting the part-time options for teachers, examining overtime and advising colleagues to take a yoga course in their free time. These measures mean that the education crisis is being carried out on the backs of employees and, indirectly, on children and families - and ignoring the real problems.
  An #educationturnaround is needed NOW
  That's why over 150 educational organizations, trade unions - including the GEW - and self-organizations of students, parents and employees have joined the alliance “Educational Transition NOW!” merged. Together they have signed the appeal of the same name and are calling for a nationwide education protest on Saturday, September 23rd…”Contribution and appeal to the GEW with all information 
  • See also thisCampaign page “School must be different – ​​educational transition now” 
• We need a different school: Today's school system fails not only because of its own claim to make everyone fit for the economy. It also reinforces the class divide
  "Is Mistress Eboshi from Princess Mononoke a villain? On the one hand, she has freed former forced prostitutes and lepers and integrated them into the society of her small mining town. On the other hand, she wants to kill the god of the forest. In this debate in my ethics class in a series about the relationship between humans and animals, Oskar and Maria are wholeheartedly involved. (Names and details have of course been changed for data protection reasons.) Oskar wants to protect the forest at all costs, after all, the death of the forest god would be pretty apocalyptic - like climate change. Maria thinks the inclusion of the excluded is more important; the emperor actually wants to see the forest god dead, Mistress Eboshi is simply trying to protect her people. Finally my ninth class debates serious ethical questions - then the bell rings. "We have to continue next week, now it's time for math." Ursula K. Le Guin. The “learning centers” there are organized entirely according to the wishes of the learners. They design the courses together with the teachers or develop their own projects in which the adults sometimes, but not always, take part (…) Then the bell rings again in the learning factory and I and the kids drag ourselves back to the classroom to work according to plan and shift (…) The fact is: the neoliberal school is there to make the class society as “cost-efficient” as possible The myth of meritocracy obscures the fact that our current school system is still characterized by discipline and exclusion.And the beneficiaries of this pseudo-meritocracy support the system and block attempts to reform it, even though it is inefficient for society as a whole. The “lean state” policy wastes the learning potential of children and young people. This effectively deprives democracy of responsible citizens and the economy of well-trained and productive workers, which causes more and more political and economic problems as generations progress. The same political forces that represent the state's austerity dictates claim to want to turn Germany into a "knowledge economy." Here the means and the end have nothing to do with each other. And this educational policy will certainly not lead us to a society of free and equal. Because this society begins in a school that primarily serves the need to learn.” Column by Ryan Plocher from July 19, 2023 in Jacobin.de 
• Appeal “Education turnaround NOW!”: Four demands for a fair and inclusive education system – nationwide education protest day planned for September 23rd 
  “... Around 90 educational organizations, trade unions and parent and student representatives have made the appeal “Education turnaround NOW!” signed and published on Thursday. They address four demands to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the federal government, the heads of government of the federal states and the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK). “An enormous and growing shortage of teachers and educators meets an outdated, underfunded and segregated education system that is socially unjust.” “Our society is currently experiencing one of the most serious educational crises since the founding of the Federal Republic,” says the appeal. "An enormous and growing shortage of teachers and educators meets an outdated, underfunded and segregated education system that is socially unfair. Children and young people are far too often not adequately prepared for the future, and necessary tasks such as digitalization and inclusion have been overlooked for far too long." Specifically, the signatories, including the GEW, are demanding a special education fund and sufficient financing, a training offensive for teachers and educators, a sustainable and inclusive school and a real educational summit at eye level. "Teachers are already working to the limit - and often far beyond it, as numerous working time studies show. A system that is so subject to wear and tear will collapse sooner or later." (Maike Finnern) (…) The signatories of the appeal also justify their four demands on the federal and state governments in detail.The special education fund should have a volume of at least 100 billion euros for the necessary investments in daycare centers and schools. In addition, at least ten percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) should flow annually into education and research. A state contract for teacher training should oblige all federal states to train enough teachers and to mutually recognize each other's degrees. The teacher training course must be revised and more closely linked to practice, new paths to teaching must be clearly regulated. Education for sustainable development (ESD) must be anchored as mandatory learning content so that students can prepare for the major challenges of the 21st century. Curricula and learning content should be revised in such a way that they create space for the intellectual, emotional and social development of children and young people and increase the quality of education. In addition, multiprofessional teams should become an integral part of all schools. (…) The educational appeal of this broad alliance of national and regional educational organizations marks the start of a large nationwide educational protest day planned for September 23rd…” GEW press release from June 1, 2023 , see also:
  • the nationwide oneAppeal “Education turnaround NOW!” 
  • #schulemussanders – Become part of the Berlin education movement!
    "... Our demands: - More time for relationships and teams - Relief for everyone - Teams from different professions in the schools - More staff and more training places - Combat discrimination and guarantee participation. Educators are overloaded, students are under pressure and often do not get the support they need. Young people are left alone with personal challenges, too many leave school without a qualification. Therefore, more spaces must be created for relationship work with students and parents and fixed time for team work must be anchored. For this, the Teachers' teaching time should be shortened. (...) No more individual struggles! We bring together people who are affected by Berlin's educational misery, who want a good school system for everyone and who want to initiate changes together. #schulemussanders is an open campaign with individuals and groups, people with a connection to school (pupils, teachers, parents, educators, social workers and teacher training students) and those who simply see good, fair and inclusive education as important for society..." Call for action from #schulemussanders from May 2023 
• GEW on the IQB education trend 2021: "Social divide is growing! Children's acquisition of skills increasingly depends on social background!" 
  “How loud do the alarm bells have to ring before education is finally given top priority in this country?” asks Anja Bensinger-Stolze, board member of the Education and Science Union (GEW), with a view to the short report published todayIQB education trend 2021 (Institute for Quality Development in Education). "The socio-economic status of the family plays an increasingly important role in children's acquisition of skills. School success and life prospects are closely linked to the parental home, which has been the Achilles heel of the education system in Germany since PISA 2001. Instead of the socially necessary decoupling, the situation is apparently getting worse. This trend has been noticeable since 2016 and affects all children, but especially students with an immigrant background." This development cannot be explained by the limited teaching during the corona pandemic. "We have to talk about a general trend. This can only be reversed if there is finally a consistent response to the dramatic shortage of teachers. An offensive in teacher training and increased qualification of lateral and lateral entrants is long overdue," emphasized Bensinger-Stolze. "The so-called Corona catch-up program from the federal and state governments is not reaching where it is needed most, namely among disadvantaged children and young people. Before there is a new edition with a planned 500 million euros, we need a distribution system that ensures that the money flows to where it has a direct impact," emphasized the GEW school expert. "Unequal things must be treated unequally, resources must not be distributed in a lump sum. In its coalition agreement, the traffic light government has promised a START opportunities program for 4,000 schools in difficult situations and has agreed to anchor school social work for 4,000 additional schools. These are the right steps! But they have not yet been included in the budget with the appropriate resources.“This has to happen immediately,” Anja Bensinger-Stolze warned the federal government…” GEW press release from July 1, 2022 
• On the strings of PISA 
  "...  For the local public, the great PISA awakening initially began with a "shock". In the first edition in 2000, the Federal Republic of Germany came in 21st place out of 32 nations. Scandal! (...) It is by no means a given that German students today actually read, write and do math better than they did two decades ago. Rather, they do a better job of meeting the PISA requirements by following the test routines, predominantly using the multiple-choice method. You also have to learn how to put ticks (…) The methodology is quite simple, as can be seen from the limitation of just three “indicators” to draw conclusions about the overall quality of a school system based on reading, arithmetic and knowledge of natural sciences. Where are social and ethical skills? The majority of the curricula are not taken into account, and the educational mandate of the schools, which is the top priority in the constitutions of the federal states, is in fact completely ignored. This is not surprising, because in all of this the interests of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which is the lead behind PISA, are clearly visible. (…) Nothing symbolizes or conveys the principles of standardization and economization more impressive than the aforementioned nation ranking, which stirs up emotions every three years.(…) If everything had been done correctly with PISA, the Germans might even have been spared the big “shock” – and many a botched school reform. The OECD study justified the “enrollment of five-year-olds, the shortening of the Abitur, the intensification of kindergarten education, the introduction of central high school diplomas,” noted Meyerhöfer. »No matter how you find these things, none of them could be derived from PISA. But that was always claimed." For the didactician, the "main problem with PISA is that empirical educational research has occupied the educational debate." It has become normal "for tests to be cobbled together and then to produce arbitrary statements." His recommendation to politicians: »PISA does nothing to further develop teaching. The federal states should cancel the PISA subscription." Article by Ralf Wurzbacher in Junge Welt from June 25, 2022 
• DGB expertiseEvery year again - On the consistency of social inequality in and through Germany's schools 

For the recent Pisa results alone, see LabourNet:

• From September 2020:GEW on the new evaluation of PISA 2018: “More equal opportunities through other structures”: abolishing sitting and numerical grades, training offensive for teaching professions…
• See also[International Day of Education on January 24th] “The top goal must be: decoupling educational success from social background”
• or from 2019:Everything for the economy: German education system exacerbates existing class differences. The influence of capital is becoming ever greater
• and from December 2019:Learning for returns: The next PISA shock – teacher shortages exacerbate inequality
• or from 2018: Study:Germany is far behind when it comes to educational equality
• And to start, in the LabourNet archive:Education debate in June 2002 – resistance is growingand the section forPrivatization of education

The postAfter 20 years of PISA: school system is mediocre and anti-social – “Education change NOW!”appeared firstLabourNet Germany.