Friday, December 08, 2023

German unions call for education reforms after shocking PISA report

2023/12/05

Anja Bensinger-Stolze, Chairwoman of GEW Hamburg, speaks at a rally at Dammtor station. German trade unions and associations have called for changes in education policy following the 2022 international PISA performance assessment that showed the country's worst results yet. 
Georg Wendt/dpa

German trade unions and associations have called for changes in education policy following the 2022 international PISA performance assessment that showed the country's worst results yet.

"Individualized support for pupils must be improved without ifs and buts," Anja Bensinger-Stolze from the executive board of the German Education and Science Union (GEW) told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers.

"The efforts of the federal states to effectively combat the shortage of teachers and specialists must finally be significantly increased," she added.

The report shows the "alarming results of education policy," according to the head of the German Employers' Associations, Rainer Dulger.

Stefan Düll, head of the German Teachers' Association, called for mandatory pre-school language proficiency tests and smaller classes and learning groups, among other things.

In reading, mathematics and science, last year's results show the lowest scores ever measured for Germany, according to the report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

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