Sunday, May 24, 2009

School System in Germany

Just when I arrived in Germany I got curios how the German School System is. It reminds me of it when we discussed the system in our Language class last week. I'm encourage to write about it because few years back I really had few prejudices about the system. It is until it was deliberately explained to us by our teacher.

Education is a federal function so there might be differences from each state but generalization is possible. At the age of 3-6,children may attend kindergarten. After that they have to compulsorily attend school for 9-10 years. The (Grundschule) or elementary school comprised of 1st to 4th grade where all subjects taught are equal. After 4th grade they are separated according to their academic ability and wishes of their families. They are to choose from, Hauptschule(the least academic), Realschule(leads to higher vocational school), Gymnasium(leads to a degree) and Gesamtschule (comprehensive school, which not all states have this).


(source:wikipedia)

I felt that it's too early to decide which path should the pupils should take. There can be students who are late bloomers, that was my concern, but then these 3 different school mentioned have all the possibilities that will lead students to a degree if one wanted to have it. On the other hand, if they want to pursue their school of choice, at earlier age they can already land a job and enjoy life outside school. Not a bad system, I think.

One more thing that made the German school system,including universities meritorious is it's available for FREE. Yes, it's available to all children, including those children of bonafide expatriates.



3 comments:

Xee (Mommy, Make it Better) said...

I didn't know Germany supports schooling until university level! I do know they have great social services, though. I wonder when that'll happen to that Philippines. :|

Dorothy said...

Fascinating to get a glimpse into other countries and their view of education.

Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com

Michelle said...

Wow, Germany's school system is so different then the United States school system. Very interesting information. I wish school was free here for the university level, but no such luck. Very fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing.