The School System is systematically flawed

Content Information: I am not a expert and this is purely based on research I’ve done and my personal opinion.

This post talks mainly about Germany, unless specified otherwise.

The school system is actively failing, right infront of our eyes. What a bold statement, I know. But there is factual proof to this claim. Coming from Germany, I feel like I’ve had more than enough experience with failing school systems.

Today, I will cover how the system fails, how it is ruining innovation and creativity and takes possibilities.

Social Gradient / The Origin Effect

Every three years, the PISA Study takes place and ranks 15 year old students, while also weighing in social and cultural factors. These can include, but are not limited to the wealth of the parents, the social status of the family and if someone is a immigrant or not.

Germany ranked just barely above average in 2022, just a tad bit better than in the years before. This is unacceptable for the biggest economy in europe.

Unnatural Selection

After Kindergarten, you go into primary school. Then, after just four years, the class gets smashed into three different school systems. Gymnasium, Realschule and Hauptschule. The Gymnasium gives you career chances, as it is the most pristine. This smashing of the class dynamic happens during a important time in the kids development, killing their sense of “being”.

Pay To Win Education

The smarter your parents are and they more they earn, the statistically better you perform in school, tests and exams. This was brutally visible during the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools were shut down and Online Homeschooling became the norm. This time caused many students to fall behind (including me) and not be able to catch up. If your parents have the money for a private tutor though, you were able to fill this gap in no time.

Education shouldn’t be behind a paywall

Missed digitalization

This is by far one of the biggest, most spoken about points on this list. As countries in the Baltics and Scandinavia go full digital, are we sleeping in the past. Germany brutally missed the mark when it comes to digitalization.

“Schulen sind Länder Sache.” - This sentence translates to: “Schools are a matter for the individual states.” This causes many issues, not just when it comes to digitalization (no consistent curricula for example).

Building without a Foundation

Imagine this: You’re building a skyscraper. But you do it without a foundation. What happens? The entire thing collapses. The individual states have recently started bringing iPads into schools, which is a great thing by itself, but has no use without the infrastructure. Germany saw the potential of the new fiber optic cable in the 1980’s, but the chancellor at the time, Helmut Kohl decided to continue using the “old reliable” copper cable design, causing to this day massive internet issues in Germany. Most schools just do not have the cable infrastructure to support a Wi-Fi system that sometimes has 500+ devices logged in at once.

Computer science lessons

Many schools, particularly older ones, do not have computer science classes, letting many children slip with them having none of the essential computer skills you need in the modern world. Luckily, this seems to be improving rapidly, especially in States like Northrine-Westphalia or Berlin.

Teacher shortage

This point is a no brainer. Ten of thousands of teachers are missing in the entire country. This is a massive issue, causing cancellation of classes and substitute teachers, who cannot teach the class like a proper, trained for that subject, teacher.

This causes a circle of hell:

Lesson cancellations: Subject-specific lessons are cancelled en masse or are covered by teachers without the relevant qualifications (the sports teacher teaches math).

Overload: The remaining teachers have to fill the gaps, burn out and become ill, which further exacerbates the shortage.

Career changers: To fill gaps, insufficiently qualified personnel are often sent into the classes.

Outdated curricula, “bulimic learning” and outdated practices

Bulimic learning in the context of school is basically:

• Step 1: Get handed topic A
• Step 2: Shove topic A into your brain
• Step 3: Spit topic A out for an exam
• Step 4: Forget topic A
• Step 5: Get handed a new topic

This in combination with outdated teaching practices and the carriculum thats stayed the same since 1990 creates a toxic learning enviroment, where pressure is prioritized over personal development. The constant pressure to perform, to learn that by that date to get that grade eliminates any natural curiosity and any joy at learning new. This coincides with the fact that students learn poetry analysis and curve sketching (which certainly has its value), but after graduation they often don’t know how to file a tax return, how insurance works, or how to read a rental agreement.

Educational federalism (The “patchwork”)

Education in Germany is a matter for the individual states. This means: 16 federal states, 16 different systems. This has caused an incredible chaos (and its the reason why the carriculum is so inconsitenc across states).

Comparability

A high school diploma in Bavaria is often more difficult than one in Bremen, but they are formally considered equivalent. This is unfair when applying for university places. Another issue is, when a family moves from one federal state to another. Children often have to catch up on material or repeat grades because the curricula are not synchronized.

Conclusion

So, what do we take away from this? Critics accuse the system of being a “tanker that is difficult to steer.” Reforms take years, while the world changes rapidly. Although the system still produces many well-educated young people, it loses too many along the way and only partially prepares them for the modern world of work. The government needs to put more thought and time into the school system, as the new generation is incredibly important in an ever aging country.