Last year, 26,000 fourth-graders nationwide took part in an educational study. The evaluation shows that the performance in reading and arithmetic deteriorates significantly. Minister of Education Watzinger speaks of "alarming results".
According to a study, fourth graders continue to slide across Germany in terms of performance in the subjects German and mathematics. The negative trend has intensified since 2016, according to the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) in Berlin. Above all, the social background has an increasing influence on the educational success of the students.
The Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB) examined the educational skills of fourth graders in German and mathematics last year. More than 26,000 fourth-grade students from around 1,400 schools took part in the study.
According to the study, the number of students who achieved the minimum standard fell in both subjects. The connection between the social background and the educational success of the students was strengthened. Children with an immigrant background are having an increasingly difficult time.
The study cited school closures during the corona pandemic as an important reason for the deterioration. How strong a student is in school is closely related to the home learning environment during the pandemic. Inadequate equipment could impair the learning success.
The incumbent KMK chairwoman and Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Education Karin Prien from the CDU called the results "sobering". "In Germany we invest too little in elementary school," she explained. The acquisition of German and math skills must already be given greater attention in daycare. "As KMK, we will have to think about how we can restore more educational equity," explained Prien.
FDP Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger explained that the proportion of students who missed the standard was "far too high". The "alarming results" should now "shake up". Long-term measures are needed where the challenges are greatest. This particularly affects children with an immigrant background and in a socially challenging situation.
The trade unions also reacted with alarm. "These students will find it difficult to catch up in secondary school what they didn't learn as elementary school students," explained Susanne Lin-Klitzing, chairwoman of the German Association of Philologists.
The Education and Science Union called the results "sobering and scandalous". The elementary school had been neglected for years. The problems lie, among other things, in the increasing shortage of teachers, in classes that are too large and in insufficient training.
The Association for Education and Upbringing warned that the educational problems began in pre-school age. Lack of staff and overwork in daycare centers have reached dangerous levels. A nationally coordinated specialist offensive is needed.
The Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (IFO) was concerned about the economic consequences of the educational gap. "These huge learning deficits will not simply go away. They will have high follow-up costs if we do not take countermeasures immediately," said IFO education expert Ludger Woessmann.
