Education policy | Pisa study: New “educational poverty certificate” for Germany

Last year, the PISA study examined the performance levels of young people in 91 countries and economic zones. Photo: dpa/Wolfram Kastl "We adapted too late to an increasingly heterogeneous student body," admitted Federal Education Minister Karin Prien. This could largely explain Germany's once again poorer performance in the Pisa study, said the Christian Democrat on Tuesday at the presentation of the international education survey in Berlin. Last year around 6,700 students from Germany took part.

The skills in reading, mathematics and natural sciences have deteriorated further among 15-year-olds in Germany after a significant drop during the corona pandemic. The results of the OECD study in 91 countries and economic regions also show that more and more students are unable to cope with even basic requirements. In reading and arithmetic it is around a third of young people, and in natural sciences it is around a quarter of young people. Germany is therefore in the average of the OECD countries. Other Western countries have also seen declines, while many East Asian countries have fared significantly better.

Prien finds it “extremely worrying” that the “social gap” between students is continuing to widen. The differences in skills between socioeconomically disadvantaged young people and those from privileged families are no longer acceptable. Only five of the 90 countries surveyed performed even worse when it came to educational equity.

The study shows major differences between school types. While most students at high schools achieve the basic skills, the need at other schools is great: In mathematics, 47 percent do not even achieve basic skills, in reading it is 43 percent and in natural sciences 37 percent. It is also striking that young people with a migrant background perform significantly worse. In particular, those who have only lived in Germany for a few years fall significantly behind. However, immigration is not the main reason for increasing educational inequality, emphasized study director Samuel Graff. "The dividing line is not between young people with and without an immigrant background, but between young people from socially privileged and socially disadvantaged families," said the expert. Many countries managed better than Germany to “transform different prerequisites into a strength of diversity” in the education system.

Prien admits that the finding is not surprising. When the international comparative study was presented for the first time in 2000, it was a shock. Now, on the other hand, we see a trend that is solidifying. Many young people are unable to fulfill their potential at school.

In order to better position educational institutions, Graff does not see just one option for action to reform the school system. Rather, a package of measures is necessary. Learning development must be recorded early on and children must receive support quickly when they need it. This must be done specifically where the need is greatest. The monitoring of educational measures also needs to be further developed. Graff admits that the findings are not new, but the necessary steps must be taken consistently.

Anna Stolz (Free Voters), Education Minister in Bavaria and Chairwoman of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, shares the OECD's recommendations for action. “We are not starting our efforts from scratch,” she assured when presenting the study. Together with Karin Prien, she emphasized that countermeasures are already being taken following wake-up calls from other educational studies.

Years ago, people began to see the daycare center as an educational institution, explained Prien. A language level survey will now be carried out there, and if children need to catch up, targeted support should be given. In schools, the limited resources with the starting opportunity program would be used specifically where they are most urgently needed. Since 2024, the federal and state governments have jointly invested around 20 billion euros over a period of ten years to support around 4,000 schools in challenging situations. In addition, the full day in primary schools is being expanded, where it is not just about looking after the children, but also about targeted support.

Prien advocates that daycare centers and schools need to continually develop and improve. There also needs to be better cooperation between schools, parents and support institutions. “We know where we have to start,” explained the Federal Minister. She believes she is on the right path, even if no successes appear to have been visible yet.

However, she does not want to make fundamental cuts in the education system, such as longer joint learning, which Graff has suggested. In other countries, this has led to better results, explained the education expert. In Germany, the transition to secondary schools takes place after the fourth grade in most federal states. Many scientists believe this is premature.

Anja Bensinger-Stolze, board member of the GEW education union, expressed a devastating criticism of the education policy. “The bottom line is that a quarter of a century of PISA measures have achieved nothing.” After 25 years, educational success in Germany still depends more on the parents than in almost any other country, explained the school expert. »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. She demands that the entire school system should be put to the test following this “education poverty certificate”.

After the publication of the Pisa study, the SPD parliamentary group is calling for a crisis meeting at the federal level. "After these results, we cannot simply move on to the agenda," said deputy parliamentary group leader Dagmar Schmidt to the German Press Agency. She expects Prien to take the initiative now. “Germany needs an education summit between the federal, state and local governments.” At such a meeting, concrete, joint conclusions would have to be drawn from the results. In Germany, the federal states are responsible for education. A joint approach is therefore always a lengthy negotiation process.

"If Germany falls further behind in education and social background increasingly determines educational success, that is an alarm signal that no one should ignore," said Schmidt.

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