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EDUCATION & KNOWLEDGE
TOPIC
ATTRACTIVE SCHOOL SYSTEM
In Germany responsibility for the school sys-
general-education and vocational schools. In
tem is primarily with the 16 federal states.
general, school attendance is compulsory for
This is why there are different education sys-
all children from the age of six for a nine-year
tems and plans, along with different types of
period. At the same time the promotion of ear-
school. The Standing Conference of the Minis-
ly education at pre-school age and its inter-
ters of Education and Cultural Affairs of the
locking with primary schooling is a high-pri-
Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany
ority issue in education policy. 10,000 all-day
(KMK) guarantees the conformity or compar-
schools now have a firm place in the education
ability of the education programmes and the
system. It is expected that teaching in these
certificates awarded. In the 2014-5 academic
schools will result in an increased level of
year there were almost 11 million pupils
equal opportunities, especially for children
attending
from educationally deprived backgrounds.
44,880
general-education
and
vocational schools, with 795,600 teachers giving instruction. Furthermore there are some
Attendance at state schools is free of charge.
969,000 pupils enrolled at 6,620 private
The school system is divided vertically into
three levels: primary education and secondary education levels I and II. As a rule, all
GLOBAL
children attend a primary school, which lasts
from Year 1 to 4 (in Berlin and Brandenburg
PISA survey Published in late 2013,
the fifth Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA) comparative
survey conducted by the OECD revealed
that for the first time schoolchildren
in Germany were well above the OECD
average in all subjects. Among other
things, this success is thanks to the
extensive measures taken by the Federal
Government and the states to improve
education. The next PISA survey will
be published in late 2016.
1 to 6). Subsequently there are three standard
→ oecd.org/pisa
hensive schools – three of the curricula and
curricula: the secondary general school curriculum (Years 5 to 9 or 10), the intermediate
school curriculum (Years 5 to 10, “Mittlere
Reife” or middle school diploma) and the
grammar school curriculum (Years 5 to 12 or
13, general higher education entrance diploma; or Abitur). These are taught either in separate types of school or in schools which
combine two or – as in the case of comprefacilitate switching between the different
types of school. The names of these types of
school vary depending on the state; only
grammar schools (Gymnasium) are known