In the Free State, people like to boast about the quality of the education system. This is regularly confirmed in a study that specifically focuses on economic aspects. But there is also criticism.
Munich/Cologne (dpa/lby) – According to a recent survey, Bavaria has the second-best education system in Germany. This was the result of a comparative study by the German Economic Institute (IW) on behalf of the New Social Market Economy initiative, which is financed by the metal and electrical industry. Saxony is the leader, followed by Thuringia.
According to the information, Bavaria takes first place in the fields of vocational training and educational poverty and second place in the fields of digitization, integration, school quality and research orientation. The authors of the study are critical of the few all-day places in day care centers and elementary schools, where the Free State only came in 13th place – other studies have repeatedly criticized the Bavarian education system for years.
According to the authors, the evaluation of the education system is carried out expressly from an educational economics point of view. The extent to which the federal states reduce educational poverty, contribute to securing skilled workers and promote growth is evaluated.
“Bavaria has secured second place for the fourth time in a row. We are pleased with the placement because it shows the traditional strength of our education system,” said Bertram Brossardt, General Manager of the Bavarian Business Association. The high quality of school education is the basis for later professional success and thus also for securing skilled workers in companies.
After graduating from school, the Bavarian economy offers students promising opportunities for an apprenticeship, said Brossardt. This is also evident from current figures from the Federal Employment Agency and the summer survey in the Bavarian metal and electrical industry. “Currently, there are 1.66 job vacancies for every applicant in Bavaria across all sectors.” 92 percent of the companies surveyed would take on their trainees this year.
The bottom of the ranking is the two-city state of Bremen, behind North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony-Anhalt. “In almost half of the federal states, the bottom line has been that the education systems have deteriorated since 2013,” said Hubertus Pellengahr, Managing Director of the New Social Market Economy Initiative.
According to the authors, comparative work should be carried out at all schools in order to systematically identify gaps in knowledge. In addition, the funding infrastructure would have to be expanded and more teachers trained in the so-called MINT subjects – math, computer science, natural sciences and technology.
For the first time, digitization was also considered in the education monitor. The importance of digital skills will increase significantly in the coming years, it said. Digitization is correspondingly relevant in the education sector.
According to the initiative, 20,000 additional IT positions should be made available at schools across Germany. “New laptops or tablets don’t go out of the box for months because nobody feels responsible for installing programs or privacy concerns get in the way,” said Pellengahr. “Our educational federalism has many advantages. They are used far too rarely.”
The education monitor has been collected annually since 2004 on behalf of the New Social Market Economy Initiative. The initiative describes itself as a non-partisan alliance of politics, business and science. It is financed by the employers’ associations of the metal and electrical industry.
