Education policy | Pisa study: “No Future” is back

Educational success in Germany depends heavily on social background. Photo: dpa/Armin Weigel Karin Prien was unable to spread much hope when presenting the Pisa study. The findings were depressing: In many schools, teachers are no longer even able to teach basic skills in math, German and the natural sciences. Half of the classes are sometimes failed. Politicians have taken several steps in recent years to counteract this trend. For example, the Starting Opportunities Program is intended to specifically support those schools where help is most urgently needed. And in many schools, children and young people are already cared for and supported on a much more individual basis.

The success remains modest, however. Because there are also schools that suffer greatly from a shortage of teachers and where a lot of lessons are canceled. The overloaded teachers no longer have the motivation that would be desirable. Experts have been warning about this looming downward spiral for a long time.

But the shortage of teachers is only part of the problem. When presenting the PISA study, Prien also pointed out school refusal and psychological stress among children. This is a frighteningly big issue for this generation. That's not surprising. After all, these children experienced the corona pandemic five years ago, the consequences of which were never really dealt with in schools. It just kept going. The catch-up programs mostly failed because there were no teachers.

But the challenges for schools go far beyond teaching. The omnipresence of smartphones in young people's everyday lives is becoming an ever-increasing problem - they can undoubtedly be an aid to learning, but they can also be a curse because they take up all the attention that was previously available for reading or concentrated work.

Schools can only function if they manage to cushion negative social developments in the classroom. This requires more resources than before. Education must become a top political issue. That's Prien's job. If she doesn't succeed, teaching will continue to suffer - and will have consequences for an entire generation.

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