Thuringia falls to fifth place in the education monitor – what now?

Thuringia falls to fifth place in the education monitor – what now?

A current study brings news for the education system in Thuringia: In the education monitor of the New Social Market Economy Initiative (INSM), the Free State has lost one place and is now in fifth place among the 16 German federal states. While Thuringia held fourth place last year, this shows a clear decline in the rating. Saxony remains the educational leader, followed by Bavaria, Hamburg and Baden-Württemberg. At the bottom of the ranking we find Bremen, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, while Saxony-Anhalt takes 13th place, as insuedthueringen.de reported.

The INSM study evaluates 98 indicators in 13 fields of action and places a strong focus on topics such as educational poverty and securing skilled workers. Thuringia can set a positive tone here: spending on education per vocational student is 1,100 euros above the national average, and the state has a high academic ratio of 6.7%. Particularly noteworthy is the high level of all-day care in daycare centers at an impressive 91.9%. However, there are also clear areas of need for improvement, which are addressed in the report insm.de performs.

Strengths and weaknesses of Thuringia

Thuringia's strengths include the high training rate of 61% and the low proportion of untrained applicants, which is only 4.5%. This could indicate attractive vocational training. However, there are major challenges ahead. The proportion of foreign school leavers without a qualification in Thuringia is a worrying 36.8%, which is well above the German average of 17.8%. This represents a clear need for action in integration, as well as in the results of stern.de is to be read.

In addition, the high repeat rates in lower secondary school are criticized. In recent years, Thuringia has improved not only in terms of education spending, but also in the childcare ratio and support infrastructure. Nevertheless, analyzes show clear deteriorations in the areas of school quality, educational poverty and integration. Education politicians like Christian Tischner from the CDU make it clear that there is still a lot to be done to increase the quality of teaching and reduce the number of missed lessons.

Reforms and future measures

A first step in the right direction would be measures specifically in the area of ​​basic education: suggestions such as language proficiency surveys from the age of 4 or data-supported career guidance are widely supported by the population, as surveys show. 71.1% of citizens agree with mandatory language tests, while 67.6% advocate data-supported orientation in the professional sector. Greater design freedom for schools and annual performance tests are also popular.

It remains to be seen how political leaders will respond to these challenges. Thuringia could take a clear path to get back into the top group of federal states. A passionate appeal to politicians to develop targeted action strategies could help the Free State to compete with the best educational institutions in Germany.