BERLIN, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — Germany’s school system is under increasing strain, with new data showing a gradual decline in educational quality. Declining language skills, slow progress in integrating refugee children and the impact of digital distractions are adding to pressures on already overstretched classrooms.
According to preliminary figures released Saturday by the German Economic Institute (IW) and reported by newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Germany’s education ratings have deteriorated markedly since 2013.
Compared with the benchmark score of 100, integration and educational opportunity fell by 43.7 points in 2025, while school quality dropped 28.2 points. Educational poverty among children worsened by 26 points.
A main factor is the high number of refugee children entering schools since 2015. Axel Plunnecke, head of the IW’s education, innovation and migration unit, called that year a “watershed moment” when Germany experienced a massive refugee influx.
“Over the past decade, far more children have entered the school system than education ministries had anticipated back in 2010,” Plunnecke said, urging mandatory language testing.
He warned that “children in 30 to 40 percent of schools in Germany face serious (language) deficits,” with many children unable to meet basic reading standards.
The surge in student numbers has not been matched by an increase in qualified teachers. “We can no longer cover current student numbers with fully trained teachers,” said Gerhard Brand, chairman of the association for education and training in the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
He called for smaller class sizes, better training for career changers and more social support in schools.
Meanwhile, post-pandemic challenges persist, with Brand citing the widespread use of smartphones as a growing factor in declining concentration and learning retention.
Germany’s vocational education model, long admired for combining classroom instruction with on-the-job training, is also under stress.
More than a quarter of 15,000 companies surveyed by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) plan to cut training positions in 2025 amid economic uncertainty.
Demand is also slipping. Nearly one in three apprentices now drops out before completing training, according to Handelsblatt, a German business newspaper, raising fears of a widening skills gap.
The IW projects that Germany could face a shortage of 768,000 skilled workers by 2028, a gap threatening key national projects. The government has announced massive investments, 500 billion euros (about 580 billion U.S. dollars) in May to modernize infrastructure and accelerate climate-related projects, and another 631 billion euros in July targeting manufacturing, innovation and transport.
“Germany’s key national projects could face delays or even fail to meet their targets if the shortage of skilled workers is not urgently addressed,” Plunnecke added. (1 euro = 1.16 U.S. dollars)
