GERMAN EDUCATION ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES
Education in a developed nation like Germany provides a certification that is valued all over
the world. The certification opens up global job/business opportunities for the successful
students. They have more self-confidence. They can gain something very special for their lives.
Where people work with pleasure and achieve optimum job satisfaction, there is progress and
development.
Germany is a very advanced country, especially German technology in the field of mechanical
engineering. The main advantage of an education in Germany is that there is coordination
between the theoretical and practical terms, and that universities and companies are working
together. A good practice that does not exist like this in other countries.
Germany has a very good reputation for teaching subjects such as engineering and science. The
advantages of studying in Germany are: a friendly society, a magnificent historical culture,
research possibilities and new technological developments in many fields.
Youths not interested in, or qualified for, university sign up for a programme in which they work
three or four days a week for a firm that pays them and teaches relevant skills. The rest of the
time they spend in school, completing mostly specialized courses. Chambers of commerce and
industry associations make sure that the work and the teaching are matched. After three years
or so, trainees are certified and, if they make a good impression, may stay as full-time workers.
About two in three young Germans go through this system and into about 350 careers. Some
end up in blue-collar jobs, others in sales and marketing, shipping and agriculture, or
pharmacology and accounting. The practical nature of the education is an advantage, as is the
mutual screening between potential employers and employees during training.

ISSUES AND DISADVANTAGES
Literacy And Numeracy
A growing number of Germans are functionally illiterate, functionally innumerate, or both. According to
a study done by the University of Bremen in cooperation with the
"BundesverbandAlphabetisierunge.V.", ten percent of youngsters living in Germany are illiterate and
one quarter was able to understand only basic level texts. 21.6 percent of all youngsters were only able
to do mathematics at or below fourth-grade-level. The percentage of illiterate and innumerate
youngsters varies among ethnic groups and parents' socioeconomic status.
High School Dropout Rates
A 2008 statistic from Nordrhein-Westfalen shows that 6.4 percent of all students did not earn even the
Hauptschulabschluss, however not all of them were high school dropouts, as many of them were special
needs students, who received special school leaving certificates. Only 3.3 percent dropped out of school
without earning any kind of diploma.
School violence
A debate about school violence has been sparked in 2006 when teachers of the Rtli School wrote a
letter to the senate office demanding the school to be closed down. The letter stated:
We must realize that the mood in some classes currently is marked by aggressiveness, disrespect, and
ignorance towards adults The tendency toward violence against property is growing In most of the
families of our students, they are the only ones getting up in the morning. For them, school is a stage and
battleground for attention. The worst culprits become role models.

Religion In Education
Some German states have banned Muslim teachers from
wearing headscarves in class. Students are allowed to
wear headscarves. All German States have banned crosses
from the classroom. However the cross is allowed in class
if none of the students objects to it, but must be removed
if any student objects.Generally the use of all religious
symbols by teachers is prohibited in state schools
(however this is not true for faith schools). This is
legitimate by combining the German states' privilege of
educational laws with the principle of separation of
church and state, both provided for in the German federal
constitution. According to this legal view, teachers in their
vocational function within a state administered
educational system are obliged to maintain and publicly
exhibit religious neutrality when on duty. As this status of
employment does not hold for pupils, whose
constitutional right to religious freedom thus remains
unencumbered by these provisions, this ban cannot
legally be extended to them as it is in France. Students
visiting a Gymnasium are required to attend religious
education or ethics classes.According to the German
constitution, church and state are separated in Germany.
Thus while classes in religion or ethics are compulsory in a
Gymnasium, the student may choose which specific religion, if any, is studied.

http://www.dw.de/what-are-the-advantages-of-an-education-in-germany/a-5918056
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21578656-germanys-vaunted-dual-education-system-its-
latest-export-hit-ein-neuer-deal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_issues_in_Germany
Places colored Red are states that
have banned the wearing of
headscarves by Muslim teachers.