OECD Corona Education Report: No normal classes on 180 days

According to a study, the corona pandemic in Germany prevented normal school lessons on two thirds of the 270 days considered. The OECD survey also shows, however, that more classes were canceled in other countries.

According to an OECD survey, classes for the around eleven million schoolchildren in Germany were disrupted on an average of more than 180 days from the beginning of the corona pandemic to the end of the school closings in spring. That is two-thirds of the approximately 270 school days in the examined period between January 2020 and May 20, 2021.

The OECD presented the data as part of its annual “Education at a Glance” survey. The more than 500-page study compares the education systems of the 38 OECD and other countries.

German lessons failed less often

The report also provides information on teaching impairments in other countries: Compared to other industrialized countries, teaching in Germany was less often completely canceled.

In elementary schools in the OECD countries, for example, this was the case on 78 days, whereas in Germany it was 64 days. In the secondary school sector, too, the German values ​​of 85 days (lower secondary level) and 83 days (upper secondary level) were below the international average of 92 and 101 days.

Daycare centers in Germany, on the other hand, were more often completely closed (61 days) than the average of 55 days in the OECD and partner countries examined.

Only in the area of ​​preschool did the OECD countries reopen facilities more quickly on average. In addition, Germany kept the schools partially open significantly more often than the comparison countries. During the same period, 103 days of classes were held, some of them in the classrooms; the OECD average was 57 days.

Education expenditure is an important field

The OECD study also examines how much money the countries spend on education or how schools and daycare centers are staffed. For Germany, it is emphasized that more children in the age group under three years of age as well as in the preschool sector take part in early childhood education, care and upbringing than the OECD average.

The annual expenditure on education per pupil is also higher than the OECD average. However, according to the report, Germany spends less money on educational institutions in relation to its gross domestic product (GDP) than the OECD countries on average. In 2018 it was 4.3 percent of GDP, compared to an OECD average of 4.9 percent.