Germany's schools have had a lot of bad news in recent months. In December the PISA study showed German pupils falling behind in mathematics and reading. Last month's 2024 Youth Study showed a digitalization deficit in schools, with students saying they don't feel prepared to find a job and manage the challenges of real life. Then a survey conducted in April known as the Schulbarometer (school barometer) had one in two teachers reporting that they had witnessed psychological or physical violence from pupils.
"We're seeing a snapshot of a sick system," said Dagmar Wolf, a former teacher and head of education research at the Robert Bosch Foundation, which surveyed more than 1,600 teachers for the school barometer. "We're talking about bullying, we're talking about vandalism, but also about physical altercations, some of which of course go beyond the schoolyard," she told DW. "We have even received reports of parents getting involved. It's more of an exception, but it's not as if it doesn't happen."
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