Mathematics professor Bernhard Krötz compares the school requirements in India with NRW - and draws a devastating conclusion.
What does the responsible school ministry say about this?
Cologne – Something has to happen in the German education system.
Everyone agrees on that – politicians, teachers, parents and students.
But it happens: nothing.
The botched education summit by Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), in which almost no education minister took part, was followed by the education ministers' conference.
It's about graduating from high school.
But is the question of how to unify the Abitur in Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt really the problem at German schools?
Not for Bernhard Krötz.
On February 21, the mathematics professor uploads a video to YouTube.
His clicks are usually in the four-digit range.
This video stands out with over 160,000 views.
Apparently he hits a nerve.
Krötz is sitting in front of a wall of books.
He speaks calmly, matter-of-factly and calmly.
His excitement is great.
Because Krötz gets first-hand experience of how well the Abitur prepares for a degree in mathematics.
His sobering conclusion: not at all.
Students in the first semester are "mathematical beginners".
Responsible for this would be the far too shallow teaching in the upper school.
"One can only smile about the requirements in the scientific field in Asia," says Krötz.
Mathematics professor: German students would be completely overwhelmed in India
Krötz is concrete in his explanations.
He compares the exam tasks from India with the requirements in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Krötz chose the “Joint Entrance Exam” (JEE) as a reference.
It is the most important test in India.
Those who master it can choose the university.
Krötz goes through the test task by task and comes to the conclusion that almost no German student would pass this test.
The failure rate is also high in India.
Out of 400,000 students, only 10,000 got half the problems right.
But much more important for Krötz: no Indian student falls below 15 percent.
This is also due to the very strict time limit of three hours.
The mathematics professor is convinced that with more time, many Indians could manage at least a third.
He doesn't trust German students to do that.
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Bernhard Krötz is a mathematics professor at the University of Paderborn.
© Prof. Dr.
Bernhard Krötz/Youtube
There is also a need for more well-trained scientists in this country.
Even more important: well-trained female scientists.
Around a third of the students are women and two thirds are men.
In the areas of software development and IT in particular, companies complain that there are far too few young people.
According to the NRW Entrepreneurs' Association, the shortage of skilled workers in the MINT areas (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) is already "a real danger for the business location, our prosperity and also for the transformation".
With the local requirements, you can't get this problem under control, says Krötz.
He takes apart the new, not yet published NRW core curriculum draft in mathematics.
It remains unclear where he got the design from.
Krötz' conclusion: the tasks are far too easy.
School education in India: Greater focus on science
A completely different wind, i.e. pressure to perform, beware in India.
There, the entire school education is much more demanding and more focused on the natural sciences, says Krötz.
If an Indian student focuses on the MINT subjects, he has six hours of mathematics, chemistry and physics per week.
In addition, another six hours of biology or computer science.
A criticism that rolls off those responsible.
“In the Indian JEE test in question, knowledge is tested in many areas that is only imparted in a university degree.
Against this background, a comparison of the JEE-Advanced with the draft of the new core curriculum draft mathematics for the upper school level seems inappropriate," says the NRW Ministry of Education.
In addition, the video shows a version of the draft core curriculum "which largely does not correspond to the published version."
In plain language: Indian students have to meet mathematical requirements that German students only have to meet at university.
One could argue that the German education system – in view of the global competition for the brightest minds – is geared towards the best and is itself tightening the requirements.
The NRW Ministry of Education comes to a different conclusion: "The subjects of the schools do not reflect the scientific disciplines of the universities." School remains school, university remains university.
Discussion about human rights: is India the right role model?
Mathematician Krötz will not like to hear that.
In his video, he complains that mathematics students are insufficiently prepared.
The Abitur no longer has anything to do with a university entrance qualification.
And something else bothers him.
He criticizes the targets mentioned in the new draft core curriculum.
These include human rights, values and democracy education.
But it must be about content, skills and knowledge.
What Krötz omits: the targets are precisely those parameters where India still has some catching up to do.
In the 24-minute video, he does not address the question of the extent to which the country should be a role model.
After all, India ranks 84th in the “Democracy Matrix” of the University of Würzburg.
Germany is in fifth place.