Overview
- The latest PISA cycle shows German 15-year-olds recorded their lowest scores since the study began, with reading, mathematics and science all dropping to new lows.
- PISA confirms that students’ socio-economic background now predicts school outcomes more strongly than before, and the gap has widened since 2015.
- Rheinland-Pfalz’s minister-president Gordon Schnieder has announced plans for binding tests of 4½-year-olds to check German language skills and basic school-ready abilities such as holding a pencil, using scissors and tying shoelaces.
- Bavaria’s 2025 policy of mandatory preschool language screening and a 240-hour Vorkurs Deutsch for children with deficits is cited as a model by some but currently lacks systematic outcome evaluation and regular success checks.
- Education leaders and unions say long-term drivers include teacher shortages, fragmented funding and digital distraction, prompting demands for more resources, redistribution of support to disadvantaged schools and a federally convened education summit.