Commentary on the IGLU study: A catastrophe for society

Germany got a bad report with the IGLU study. A school system that produces masses of educational losers is a disaster. It would take an outcry for anything to change.

The students in Germany didn’t deserve that. If 25 percent of fourth graders can’t read well enough to keep up in class, then the kids can’t be at fault. They get bad grades, but others deserve the lousy references: those who shape education policy in Germany, for example, because they should have given the children more opportunities.

A disaster for society

According to the results of the study, many of the children who can’t read well come from families who don’t speak German – or if they do, then rarely and probably not without errors. Children from educationally disadvantaged families also do poorly. Educational climbers are therefore the exception in Germany, not the rule.

This is sad for the children it affects. Desolate for the families who can’t do enough to help whatever is lacking. For society, however, it is a catastrophe.

A school system that produces masses of educational losers will certainly not provide enough skilled workers. The future of the country is at stake. And no one can say they didn’t know about it. But although education policy affects almost all families in Germany, there is hardly any pressure. Heaters or tanks somehow get more attention.

But there is also hope

Nevertheless, there is hope: First of all, the children want it. According to the study, school motivation and school satisfaction are high. Second: There are good examples of successful schools where the children learn well. Federal states like Bavaria and Saxony are also doing a lot right. There are even lighthouses in the big cities: Hamburg scores considerably better than Bremen or Berlin. You could take that as an example.

Third, it has long been clear that early detection of educational weaknesses is important. Only then can you start early on to give individual children targeted support so that they can catch up. And fourthly, language skills must be taught before school, i.e. in the day-care centres, so that the children have a chance of experiencing success right from the first grade of primary school.

An outcry is needed

You need good staff for education, and you also need money for that. The start opportunity program, with which the federal government wants to help around 4,000 schools from 2024 that have been disadvantaged to date, can be a start.

The federal states also have to dig deeper into their pockets and give the schools more – including freedom. But for that to happen, for something to actually happen, an outcry is needed. And from the middle of society. The students deserve it.