The German School System | Meet The Germans

Do you know your "Gymnasium" from your "Gesamtschule"?
The German school system is certainly complicated. For this week's Meet the Germans, Rachel heads back to the classroom to get to grips with the different types of schools and to find out what kids like about going to school in Germany.

Rachel moved from the UK to Germany in 2016. As a relative newcomer she casts a fresh eye over German clichés and shares her experiences of settling into German life. Every two weeks she explores a new topic – from German books to German-Turkish culture or Germany's obsession with cars. This week: German schools and the education system.

#Germany #School #MeetTheGermans

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[dweuromaxx]

What do you think of the German school system? 🎒

[yaro]

You also can't forget about the overhead projector, an ancient technology still used today all over German schools.

[korinaviado]

I could never understand my German friends when they talked about their school system, this made me say, and then “still confusing but I think I am getting it” 😂! Thanks DW and Rachel :)

[frosch]

You filmed outside my old Gymnasium in Bonn 😁 Can't believe the pupils still have to use a blackboard in this day and age! We used them and everyone had to chip in for Tafeldienst (blackboard cleaning duty). Thanks Rachel and team for this trip down memory lane ☺️

[Antonia-hpgg]

At my school our Abifahrt wasn't like that. We went to Rome with out tutor and another teacher. It was fun, but it wasn't a wild, crazy party 24/7 or anything like that. We also had a planned cultural program.

[foofourtyone]

Did you mention that school ist mandatory (Schulpflicht)? It can get to a point, where children will get picked up by the police at home and brought to the school. And parents can get a fine if their children are not attending school too many times.

[tigerbw]

Biggest issues with the German school system:

- Underfunding (chaotic)
- Poor resources in most schools (even the most well off)
- Poor buildings
- A lot of inequality
- Behaviour from the students (really bad in some cases)
- No united system

I have taught in both Germany and England and I am more happy with the English system. They have generally better funded state schools with better resources.

[joebarrera]

Noch eine fantastische Episode von Meet the Germans. Vielen Dank, Rachel und DW!

[dnocturn]

Good video! But I think it's also worth to mention, that pupils are allowed to switch between the different school types and that there are plenty options to continue on a higher tier path for basically everyone, after mandatory regular school is finished.

[anirprasadd]

Geez!
A country this advanced in every social & economic aspect has such a muddled school system. It separates children way too early on the basis of performance

[johnraggett]

Rachel, thank you, once again and greetings from Leipzig. I am fortunate, at age 79, to have a mini-job as the Homework Club Tutor (15.00 to 17.00) at Leipzig International School: students from all over the world taught, principally, in English.

[JadeTsukasa]

I love education videos about how other countries handle education. I can’t get behind telling a child in 5th grade that they are university material or not. There is so much brain development that goes on from 11 to 18 years of age.

I want to become a teacher in Germany. But I think international schools will have to do for now. It would have been better if the video also focused on how Germany is losing teachers and won’t have enough teachers by 2030.

[Ken_Brz]

She didn’t wanna point it out, but during Abi graduation in our last 2 months with Abistreich and Motto, our whole 13th grade is just drinking / getting wasted, going on everyone’s nerves and partying in school 😂

literally even 6th graders walk around the school just looking at How dumb we are, but also know that that’s where they’ll be at the end as well. love that about our German school tradition 🔥😌

[johnatkins]

Wow ! As a brit living in the Netherlands, this really surprised me that Germany would be so lacking in a lot of areas, especially digital supplies. You would have thought that they would have been European leaders. Maybe, or rather probably, this is a result of them not being state run ? And my kids finished school 10 years ago (in NL), and both of them didn't see a blackboard after junior school (11 yrs. old). Positively stoneage !

[reggiesj]

This is an eye opening video! Danke! Coming from Canadian schools and college/university which usually follows England's standardized educational system, learning about Germany's is quite shocking to see such stark difference!

[dibar]

Excellent presentation as always Rachel. Keep up the good work!

[Suburp]

Great job, Rachel and team. Well done.

[heyn]

This video is so spot on about the ups and downs of this system, but also the traditions and festivities especially at the end of your time at school😂 Great video !!!!

[alisa_isy]

Very good video, I love explaining the German school system to foreigners. Everybody just ends up confused 😂.
The only thing I would have to add is the amount of stress that can build up in students. You'll get held back a year for failing one of your 12 subjects (meaning you are in a different grade for the entire of your school carrier because of one or two subjects). It even goes as far as you having to downgrade to a lower school (that happens a lot after grade 6 in a gymnasium, but also every other grade, or school). And you can take the Abitur only ones or twice in your life, which is nearly the only way to get into university (I know there is others but that gets really complicated and very different from state to state).
But all of that is really hard to research, I think you'd have to live though it to fully understand it🙃. Like with everything

[patrickfitzgerald]

I requested this a while back, and here it is . . . thanks guys! 👍👍👍