665 new first graders in Brandenburg: Exciting start to school in 2025!

665 new first graders in Brandenburg: Exciting start to school in 2025!

Last Saturday, school enrollment for the 2025/26 school year took place in Brandenburg an der Havel. In the city's 14 elementary schools, including two private ones, a total of 665 students are introduced to the first grade. This number is an important indicator of the educational situation in the region and shows that many families still live in the city and take their children's school education seriously. The first graders are spread across a total of 34 classes, which creates a variety of learning opportunities for the new students.

A look at the individual schools shows that the Wilhelm Busch School welcomes the most first graders with 96 children, followed by the Konrad Sprengel School with 87 and the Luckenberger School with 55 children. The smallest class is taught at the Havelschule with only 7 children. The final student numbers are expected to be published in mid-October as part of the official school statistics, so that a clearer picture of the current situation in the city will emerge. Mayor Steffen Scheller wishes the children a safe and successful start to the new school year and thanks the teachers for their important work in these challenging times.

Decline in school enrollments

However, the view beyond the borders of Brandenburg is particularly exciting. The Federal Statistical Office reports that school enrollment numbers in Germany have fallen for the first time in nine years. In the 2024/2025 school year, the number of school enrollments fell by 0.5 percent to around 827,500 children. In Brandenburg itself, the decline was the largest in the country at minus 4.4 percent. One reason for this could be the reduced immigration of Ukrainian children, which has contributed significantly to school enrollments in recent years. In most other federal states there were declines between minus 0.1 percent in Baden-Württemberg and minus 3.9 percent in Thuringia, while Bavaria is an exception with plus 0.4 percent.

In Brandenburg, primary schools recorded a decline in enrollment of 0.6 percent, while special schools recorded an increase of 2.5 percent. It also shows that in recent years there has been a gender ratio of 51 percent boys to 49 percent girls in school enrollment, with a particularly high proportion of boys in special schools, where 69 percent of new students are male.

Future developments

What does this mean for educational policy in Brandenburg? The second-chance schools, which are represented in cities such as Potsdam, Cottbus and Königs Wusterhausen, offer not only full-time but also part-time formats so that adults can obtain various qualifications. This could also offer an opportunity to cover the population's educational needs beyond school time. Registrations for these school offers are possible from February 16 to March 20, 2026, and registrations can also be made later depending on the availability. The Telekolleg also enables flexible learning so that adults can also make better use of their opportunities for further training.

Overall, there are indications that the educational situation in Brandenburg an der Havel and beyond is going through a phase of change. Support for teachers and a flexible educational process could ensure that the coming years will be fruitful despite the challenges in school enrollment statistics. All interested parties should follow developments closely and take action themselves if necessary.

For further information about the current school situation and registration options, we recommend the website City of Brandenburg, des Brandenburg Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and the RBB.