Education divergence in Germany

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21 november 2011 | Economically, Germany has been divided between its regions in the west and the former communist part in the east. In terms of education, however, a new report shows that a divide between north and south can be observed as the formerly weak eastern regions invest in excellence and innovation.

Bertelsmann Foundation, Germany’s biggestnon-profit organization and think tank, published its recent “Deutscher Lernatlas2011” analyzing performance of the education sector all overGermany. Main finding: the economically strong south outperformsthe north also in terms of education with Bavaria andBaden-Württemberg leading the way.

Top quality higher education, however, is not necessarily linkedto economic wealth as the cities of Dresden and Jena show. Thesecities fostered a policy of innovation and excellence in the pastovercoming its problematic former Soviet history.

Overall, Saxonia (of which Dresden is the regional capital)fairs quite well in education. It features the greatest share ofyoung graduates taking more practical degrees from universities ofapplied sciences into account as well.

Big cities such as Hamburg and Berlin have with 33% the greatestproportion of graduates to young people (aged between 25 and 34).In general, studying appears to be more popular in these cities as95% of the young with an appropriate high school diploma choose forhigher education (compared to 85% in small and medium sizedcities).