Status: 11/11/2022 10:27 am
Due to higher birth rates and increased immigration, more children have started school in Germany this year than they have in 17 years. The numbers rose particularly sharply in Lower Saxony and Brandenburg.
In Germany, 810,700 girls and boys started school this year. That was 5.2 percent more than in the previous year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. The number of school starters thus reached the highest level for 17 years.
“The strong increase in school enrollments can be attributed to demographic developments such as higher birth rates and increased immigration,” said the statistics office. “It’s impossible to quantify the proportion of children and young people who have fled the Ukraine to those who have immigrated.” Since the Russian war of aggression began on February 24, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, including many children, have fled to Germany.
Large majority enrolled in elementary schools
93.6 percent of the first graders in the 2022/2023 school year started at a primary school. Another 3.2 percent were enrolled in special needs schools, 2.4 percent in integrated comprehensive schools and 0.9 percent in free Waldorf schools.
The growth rates for school enrollments differed considerably between the federal states. In Lower Saxony, the number of children in the first grades increased by 8.7 percent compared to the previous school year. In Brandenburg, the increase was similarly strong at 8.5 percent. In Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, the number of first-graders increased at a rate that was well below average, at just 2.7 percent.
Teachers’ association warns of teacher shortage
The German Teachers’ Association also warned of a shortage of teachers in view of the increasing number of students. The number of graduate teachers has fallen by a sixth in the past ten years. “It is an unmistakable warning sign that, despite the obvious shortage of teachers, it is hardly possible to interest and win over more young people for the socially important profession of a teacher,” said association president Heinz-Peter Meidinger recently.