Germany left behind: EU report reveals education crisis!

Germany left behind: EU report reveals education crisis!

The current EU report on investment in education has raised concerns among education researcher Nina Kolleck. Kolleck is pushing for an urgent education offensive after analysis revealed that Germany's 9.2 percent of public spending lags behind the EU average of 9.6 percent. The report also shows that Germany only invests 4.5 percent of its gross domestic product in education, while the average value in the European Union is 4.7 percent. In the ranking of the 27 EU states, Germany only occupies 23rd place.

Countries like Estonia and Sweden allocate most of their spending to education, while Greece and Italy bring up the rear. Kolleck blames a lack of political foresight for the stagnating education sector, as political leaders often only consider short-term solutions. However, according to her, the education sector requires long-term investments to improve both the quality and access to education.

Structural challenges in Germany

Kolleck highlights the federal structure of the German educational landscape as a significant problem. In their opinion, centralization or the allocation of additional competencies to the federal government could bring about a positive change. She points out that around 70 percent of education spending in EU countries is earmarked for schools. Germany urgently needs to improve early childhood education and higher education.

Another critical point in the analysis is that more than 50 percent of education spending in Germany goes to personnel costs. For comparison: Sweden has the lowest share of personnel costs at 43 percent, but invests 14.5 percent of all public spending in education. These investments are crucial as education is seen as a driver of competitiveness and innovation.

OECD study and the focus on vocational training

In addition to the findings of the EU report, the OECD presents comprehensive data on public and private education spending as well as vocational education and training in its annual “Education at a Glance” study. This year the focus of this study was on vocational training, which is considered the key to economic growth. On September 12, 2023, Nicola Brandt, head of the OECD Berlin Center, presented the German perspective of the study.

Jens Brandenburg, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and Torsten Kühne, Chairman of the Heads of the Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) also took part in the digital press conference. The discussion about the results highlighted the need to promote access to vocational training in order to better prepare young people for the demands of the labor market.

These two reports illustrate the urgent need for action in the German education system. Kolleck and other experts are calling for increased long-term investments to sustainably improve the educational landscape and counteract the growing educational gap. While access to school and university education plays an important role, vocational training is considered to be of great importance in ensuring Germany's long-term economic development.

The full results of the OECD study are in the OECD iLibrary available. The challenges in the German education system require immediate attention and support to create a strong and informed society.

For more information on the EU report on investment in education, please read the analysis on taz.de.