CanadaNews’ Reporter Notes

The American system of high school education, where all students regardless of talent go to the same school for 12 years, has been tried in Germany as “Gesamtschulen.”

Let’s face it, you usually can’t simply “try” something by taking the idea and inserting it into a system that already has a very different structure.  Conservatives are usually against this model, calling it egalitarian and socialist.  It appears less socialist however if one takes into account that US schools are financed locally and hence poor communities generally have bad schools; the rich avoid the public school system altogether and send their kids to excellent private schools. The traditional German public school system divides the students at age 10 into three groups according to performance.

The pupils in the three groups go on to different schools, only one of which, the Gymnasium, leads to the Abitur, which is the sole entrance requirement for universities. It is possible to switch schools after age 10, but it is difficult and relatively rare. Private schools are irrelevant in Germany. While teaching in the US is considered to be just another “job”, teachers in Germany are highly regarded professionals. The training required before you can become a German teacher is much longer than that for US public schools.

Although the German system sounds good in theory, offering students the appropriate level of education by dividing them based on intelligence.  Opposition to the German model say there is no way you can possibly determine a child’s life-long career path at age 10.  This is the decision that is made when German children are sent to the three different schools at age 10. Furthermore, the decision is made primarily by the school teachers, whose skill at recognizing a child’s intelligence is quite debatable.

What this does is create very distinct classes in a caste sort of way that structures the entire rest of society so that it is difficult to break out of your class. For evidence of this, you need look no further than the high school level where students from the three different types of school do not mix socially. The same is found at the university (or lack thereof) level and for the rest of life. And this is all decided at age 10?!

Many states maintain public universities supported by taxpayer’s money, and these are characterized by lower tuition. In addition, virtually all universities, public and private, are heavily subsidized by grants from the federal government. All private universities are not-for-profit institutions and scholarships are given freely. Professors earn tenure after having been employed and shown a good record for a couple of years. Their jobs are then virtually guaranteed just as in the German system. The tenure system exists at public and at private universities alike. (In Germany, all but one of the universities are public.)

In general, the German system puts much more emphasis on big examinations while degrees in the US are automatically granted if the student has passed a sufficient number of classes. This is true both for the high school diploma, which doesn’t involve any exam in the US and consists of several big written and oral exams in Germany, as well as for college degrees, which in Germany require passing several oral exams and producing a thesis.

It turns out that professors in the US are a lot freer than their German colleagues: for about three and a half months of the year, they can do what they want, without any obligations of presence whatsoever.  In Germany when the semester is over, professors still have to report to work every day.  On the other hand, German professors usually have personal secretaries and academic assistants, which US professors lack. Professors in Germany are very highly regarded in the public opinion and accordingly full of themselves.

It is very interesting to compare the accessibility of academia in the two countries. On the face of it, Germany wins hands down. Attending a university is free and prospective students don’t have to apply anywhere: they simply sign up at their school of choice and start studying, provided they have the Abitur.  This has changed drastically in the years 2003-2005. Now you do have to apply and the law requiring higher education to be free has been revoked. The quality of education in Germany has suffered greatly from lack of funding.  On top of that, the German government pays a fellowship to every student whose parents can’t afford to support them. Only one half of this grant is paid out as a loan and has to be paid back later.

When looking at the higher levels of education in the US (graduate school and research universities), one notices an extremely high proportion of foreigners, to an extent where the system would almost stop to function if the foreigners were to leave. In Germany, foreign professors are very rare, probably because of the language barrier and because of more restrictive immigration laws, combined with a lower overall attractiveness of the country to foreigners. Furthermore, the old fashioned German universities require a “Habilitation” before someone can teach; this is an additional thesis and exam after the doctorate.

Generally speaking, the average American Ph.D. is less broadly educated and capable than the average German Dr.rer.nat. Specialization occurs earlier in the US, the time is shorter and many more people of only medium talent pursue a doctorate.

The US university system is very prestige oriented; whenever you state your degree, you immediately give also the name of the school where you got it from. The better universities can afford to maintain high entry requirements, while schools lower on the list have to take what they can get. By contrast, the German university system is largely homogeneous and degrees are perceived to be equivalent.