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Survey shows German school system discriminates against immigrant kids
According to the study, one out of every three children who go to school in Germany is misplaced. The news is not new -- there is a common consensus among experts and educators in Germany that many children, especially children of immigrants, are sent to lower quality schools because of their language difficulties. However, the study results are significant as they are the first concrete proof that such inequality indeed exists. The study, conducted by Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), demonstrated that the parents' level of education bore a great impact on their children's educational chances.
Many students, despite high levels of ability, are sent to Hauptschule schools (where graduating students receive a diploma less valuable than that given by other secondary schools, negatively affecting career prospects). Such students receive an education that can be far below their capabilities. More than 70 percent of Hauptschule students come from immigrant backgrounds, and this percentage is more than 90 percent in some German states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia.
The study's results show that 17 percent of students in Germany are placed well below their capability, while 13 percent are placed in schools above their capability; meaning nearly one-third of students are incorrectly placed. While more than 90 percent of students attending Hauptschule schools in North Rhine-Westphalia come from immigrant backgrounds, at the schools considered to be Germany's best, Gymnasiums, native German students never make up less than 90 percent of the student population.
The findings were the product of a comprehensive study involving 900 students. Most of the students in the study had parents who were not university graduates and attended institutions such as Realschule (ranked between Hauptschule and Gymnasium schools) or Gymnasium schools. It was proven through the study that a significant number of the students possessed the ability to succeed at a Gymnasium or Realschule. The study also showed that the chances of students whose parents were not university graduates going to a lower quality school were twice as high as those of students whose parents attended universities.
Much previous research, including the international Pisa and Iglu studies, has shown a close correlation between success in the German school system and social status, parental education levels and financial status. Pisa study researchers and United Nations rapporteurs showered the German education system with criticism following these studies.
On the other hand, German educators say a lot of wrongdoing is accomplished at the hands of teachers, who have the power to make recommendations following elementary school about the secondary school education of students. Iglu researcher Wilfried Bos asserts that up to 50 percent of students' grades and comments on report cards are faulty as a result of this, describing the situation as an “educational policy scandal.” Heike Solga and Johannes Uhlig, researchers involved in the latest study, agree with this and also emphasize the significant influence of the parents' educational backgrounds on student placement.
The research also showed that four out of five children of university graduates attend Gymnasium schools as part of a largely problem-free placement process. In contrast, only one out of three children from families where the parents have low levels of education are able to go to such schools. One in four children whose parents are not university graduates end up going to a Hauptschule, while only 20 percent of the children of university graduates go to such schools. Researchers evaluating these results say there is no excuse for the faulty placement system.
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