North Rhine-Westphalia: 40 percent of the student body has an immigrant background

Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - In North Rhine-Westphalia, 40 percent of the students in the past school year had a history of immigration.

North Rhine-Westphalia: 40 percent of the student body has an immigrant background

Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - In North Rhine-Westphalia, 40 percent of the students in the past school year had a history of immigration. That was almost 964,200 children and young people among the 2.4 million students at general and vocational schools, as reported by the State Statistical Office IT.NRW on Friday. This is a slight increase of 0.6 percentage points. Almost two thirds of the pupils at the Hauptschulen had a migration background.

At general schools, the proportion was 42.7 percent. And at the vocational schools, 30.3 percent of the students had a migration background. Gelsenkirchen had the highest share with 55.4 percent and Duisburg with 55.3 percent. The fewest immigrant students sat in classrooms in the districts of Coesfeld (18.5 percent) and Borken (23.6 percent).

A proportion of 42.7 percent was counted at general schools, while this figure was lower at 30.3 percent at vocational schools. There were clear differences depending on the type of school: the rate was highest at 64.1 percent at the Hauptschule, followed by Realschulen with 51 percent and comprehensive schools with 47.1 percent. At primary schools, 45 percent of the children had a migration background.

According to IT.NRW, Waldorf schools and further education colleges are not included in the figures for the 2021/22 school year. In the school statistics, students who were born abroad and immigrated to Germany as well as students of whom at least one parent was born abroad and came to Germany are considered to be people with an immigrant background. In addition, this includes pupils in whose families German is not spoken as a "lingua franca".