Some are picking up a pen for the first time, others don't speak German well: many children in Germany are already experiencing serious difficulties in the first grade, a new study shows.
"It quickly becomes clear that the children haven't been to kindergarten", Eva-Maria Wentz, first-grade teacher at the "Grefenauschule" - a primary school in Ludwigshafen, tells German public broadcaster ARD. A third of all students in German general education schools have a migrant background, and in Wentz's school they make up as much as 98 percent.
"Many children are unable to do the most basic things, such as taking things out of their school bag, using scissors or concentrating for a long time. This slows down the process a lot," says the teacher.
Primary school teachers sound the alarm
In 2023, a third of all first-graders in the "Grefenauschule" will have to repeat the first grade due to accumulated deficits, the ARD publication also shows. In an exclusive media survey conducted among almost 7,000 primary school teachers, 87% of them stated that children in first grade today have significantly more deficits than ten years ago - regardless of whether it is about the so-called. schools in focus, such as the "Grefenauschule", or not. Teachers talk about behavioral problems, language deficits, difficulties with concentration and fine motor skills. The main reason given by the teachers is the relatively low level of education in their families.
According to the study, there is almost no way to compensate for these deficits: more than half (52%) do not have the opportunity for additional German lessons, and another 28% have only one lesson per week. As a result, many students are unable to fully follow the learning process.
Education experts warn that primary schools cannot overcome the serious differences. Hava Engin from the Heidelberg University of Education says that "school should not become a repair shop". Education should start much earlier - even before school, she added to ARD.
The Hamburg model
This is what they have been trying to do in Hamburg for 20 years. There, children aged 4.5 are obliged to present themselves at a primary school of their choice in order to identify any possible need for additional support before they start school. This way, measures can be taken at a very early stage in the child's development, ARD explains.
Teachers use a standardized procedure to test the children's language, motor, social and cognitive skills, and if they identify a need, the child must attend preschool. To this end, the Hamburg Senate amended the school law and introduced compulsory school education at preschool age. Apparently with success: in Hamburg, significantly fewer children repeat the first grade than in Berlin, for example.
Teachers insist on mandatory preschool
The model is widely approved by primary school teachers who participated in the ARD survey. In it, 92% of those surveyed support mandatory preschool for children who are identified as needing support.
A survey of the education ministries of the individual German states shows, however, that most federal states are not planning preschool education in the next two years. Apart from Hamburg, only Hesse has such a program so far, and the state of Baden-Württemberg will join them from the next school year.
However, more and more states are embracing the idea of early testing of children (based on the Hamburg model at the age of 4.5). Rhineland-Palatinate, the state in which the "Grefenauschule" is located, is among them. There, mandatory testing of the little ones will be introduced from the 2026/27 school year. In the meantime, the class teacher Eva-Maria Wentz will again have to determine at the end of the school year which first-graders will have to repeat the year.
Authors: Mariam Bonakdar (ARD) | Anna-Lena Karn (ARD)