Better Policies For Better Lives - 50 (Credit: OECD)
Key facts
With a population of 82 million, Germany is the largest country in the European Union. It has a strong literary tradition and it is Europe’s strongest economy. It also has a relatively high immigrant population, with more than 7 million people, or nearly 9% of the total population, defined as coming from a non-German immigrant background.
Germany scored an average 484 points in the first PISA test for reading and literacy, below the OECD average of 500 and well below Finland, the top performer, which scored 546.
In a country that had prided itself on equality, PISA showed that Germany had a higher correlation between family socio-economic status and student achievement than any other OECD country.
In 2000, German students spent less time in the classroom than students in many other countries: only 796 hours per year in primary school and 903 hours in lower secondary school, against OECD averages of 841 hours and 936 hours.
A rigid tracking system under which students were channeled at age 10 into one of three types of secondary school limited the opportunities for many students to improve their performance.
Among inhabitants of a non-German immigrant background, the largest group is of Turkish origin: 2.5 million people, or nearly 3% of the population, followed by 1.3 million Poles.
Germany has a strong system of apprenticeships that trains many school-leavers for jobs. Around 60% of all young people learn a trade within its dual system of vocational education and training.
As a corollary, however, fewer than 40% of German secondary school students go on to university, compared with an average of nearly 60% in OECD countries.
2009 PISA RESULTS
Outcomes
Galvanized by the so-called “PISA shock,” political parties, unions and parent groups worked together to develop significant reforms. Though many of these have still only been partially implemented, there has already been an improvement in students’ performance.
This trend is expected to continue as more students benefit from the effects of the reforms.
Germany’s scores in reading and literacy improved to 491 in the 2003 PISA tests, 495 in 2006 and 497 in 2009. In mathematics, they advanced from in 503 in 2003 to 513 in 2009; and in science from 516 in 2006 to 520 in 2009.
Despite increased spending on early childhood education, these results were achieved without significant overall increases in spending on education. Germany spent 4.7% of its gross domestic product on education in 2008, down from 4.9% in 2000 and compared with an OECD average in 2008 of 5.7%.
Between 2000 and 2005, the number of school students fell by 4%, while average spending per student increased by 5%.
As of mid-2009, Germany had 4,283 Hauptschulen, 2,625 Realschulen, 3,070 Gymnasien and 1,363 schools offering both Hauptschule and Realschule courses.
There were also 705 comprehensive high schools, known as Integrierte Gesamtschulen.
Source: Pearson Foundation
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