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Pupils in North Rhine-Westphalia (symbolic picture)
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Pressure to perform, grading, digitization, equal opportunities: what is the German education system like from the perspective of those who are directly involved or have just left it behind?
The polling institute Forsa interviewed more than 1,000 young people aged 14 to 21 this fall.
The answers show strong disillusionment on some topics - or at best they are mixed.
Around two thirds of those questioned do not believe that all children in Germany have the same chances of a good education, regardless of their social and cultural background.
The perception of equal opportunities is currently at its lowest level since this question was first asked in 2015.
Good education depends on many factors
In fact, studies have shown time and again that success at school in Germany depends more on the parental home than in many other industrialized nations.
Education researchers agree that the corona pandemic has exacerbated inequality again.
This impression is also reflected in the Forsa survey.
72 percent of those surveyed find that the education of the parents has a major or very major influence on a child's educational opportunities.
More than half consider cultural origin to be a key factor.
Before the pandemic, these values were significantly lower.
However, almost all respondents currently agree that a good education depends heavily on the quality of the respective school and the teachers, the support of the parents - and the child's own motivation.
A large majority also sees a strong influence in the peer group: Around four out of five respondents believe that a child's circle of friends has a strong impact on their educational opportunities.
That rating has increased over the years, analysts say.
Two thirds of young people associate school primarily with stress
The researchers also wanted to know what young people primarily associate with school.
Positive: For most respondents, school is a place where they find important friendships.
The relationship with teachers is also predominantly perceived as positive.
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Just over half believe that teachers distribute grades fairly and that there is a trusting relationship between them and their students.
A good half of those surveyed say that teachers are also available as contact persons outside of the classroom.
However, only slightly more than half of the young people see school as an institution in which useful knowledge is imparted to them, which they can also apply outside of school.
Negative associations also predominate in many young people:
More than two thirds of those surveyed say that they primarily associate school with stress and pressure to perform.
Only around a third of young people see school as a place that they can or could help to shape.
Almost all young people find it important that schools and universities have good digital equipment.
On site, however, many experience that this is precisely where the problem lies.
Less than half of those surveyed think that the educational institutions are well or very well equipped with digital learning materials.
Even if the majority of young people see many weaknesses in the education system, this does not seem to cloud their optimism about their professional future.
More than 80 percent have a positive or rather positive view of their career path.
Only 15 percent are rather pessimistic.
Confidence also prevailed when it came to their personal future in general: more than two thirds of those surveyed agreed completely or somewhat with the statement »I think I have a good future«.
Only 7 percent do not believe or do not believe at all in a good future for themselves.
Almost a quarter of the young people did not want to take a clear position on this question, neither in one direction nor in the other.
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