Germany

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Germany in a nutshell

Germany and its "Länder"

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is a country in Central Europe. The territory of Germany covers 357,021 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate.

With over 82 million inhabitants, it comprises the largest population among the member states of the European Union and is home to the third-highest number of international migrants worldwide.

The capital of Germany is Berlin.

Germany (Deutschland) is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen states, known in German as Länder (singular Land). Since Land is the literal German word for "country", the term Bundesländer (federal states; singular Bundesland) is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law. The peoples of the states are the nation of Germany. The governments of the states are part of the authority of Germany.

The states have many devolved powers including nearly full control of the education system including universities. Different states differ considerably as to how they exercise this control.

Under the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) the exercise of governmental powers and the fulfilment of governmental responsibility is incumbent upon the individual Länder as far as the Basic Law does not provide for or allow for any other arrangement. The Basic Law contains a few fundamental provisions on questions of education, culture and science: thus for example it guarantees the freedom of art and scholarship, research and teaching, the freedom of faith and creed, free choice of profession and of the place of training, equality before the law and the rights of parents. The entire school system is under the supervision of the state.

Unless the Basic Law awards legislative powers to the Federation, the Länder have the right to legislate. Within the education system, this applies to the school sector, the higher education sector, adult education and continuing education. Administration of the education system in these areas is almost exclusively a matter for the Länder.

States of Germany

The 16 Länder are called in English (and German if different):

1. Baden-Württemberg
2. Bavaria (Bayern)
3. Berlin - city-state
4. Brandenburg
5. Bremen - city-state
6. Hamburg - city-state
7. Hesse (Hessen)
8. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
9. Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
10. North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
11. Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz)
12. Saarland (French: Sarre)
13. Saxony (Sachsen)
14. Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt)
15. Schleswig-Holstein
16. Thuringia (Thüringen)

Those states in bold have at least 5 million people (and of these, four have 10-20 million) - in other words, they are larger than many European countries.

Education in Country

Preprimary education

In Germany, pre-primary education and care is part of the child and youth welfare sector. In most Länder, responsibility for pre-primary education and care lies with the social ministries. From three to six years, children can attend Kindergärten which are mainly run by non-public bodies (primarily churches and welfare associations) and to which parents are required to contribute, despite the allocation of major public subsidies and reliance on other funds.

Compulsory schooling

Full-time education is compulsory from between the ages of 6 and 15 or 16 (depending on the Land), and part-time education is compulsory until the age of 18 for those who do not attend a full-time school.

Grundschule(primary education)	6-10 years of age (6-12, Berlin & Brandenburg)
Lower secondary education Orientierungsstufe (‘orientation’ phase within the different school types) Gymnasium/Realschule/Hauptschule/Gesamtschule and types of schools offering several courses of education (Schularten mit mehreren Bildungsgängen)	10-12 years of age 10/12-15/16 years of age
Upper secondary education	15/16-18/19 years of age

All pupils in Germany enter the Grundschule which covers grades 1 to 4. The transition from the Grundschule (primary school) to one of the different lower secondary school types where pupils remain at least until the completion of their full-time compulsory education is dealt with differently depending on Land legislation. Following the primary school stage at which all children attend mixed-ability classes (grades 1 to 4, in Berlin and Brandenburg grades 1 to 6) the organisation of the secondary school system (grades 5/7 to 12/13) in the Länder is characterised by division into the various educational paths with their respective leaving certificates and qualifications for which different school types are responsible.

Secondary education includes four types of schools based on a pupil's ability as determined by teacher recommendations:

• the Gymnasium includes the most gifted children and prepares students for university studies;
• the Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediary students;
• the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education
• the Gesamtschule or comprehensive school combines the three approaches.

There are also Förderschulen (schools for the mentally challenged and physically challenged). One in 21 students attends a Förderschule.

Post-compulsory education and post secondary level education

Once pupils have completed compulsory schooling – generally when they reach the age of 15 – they move into upper secondary education. The type of school entered depends on the qualifications and entitlements obtained at the end of lower secondary education. The range of courses on offer includes full-time general education and vocational schools, as well as vocational training within the duales System (dual system). The courses of education provided at general education schools within the upper secondary level lead to a higher education entrance qualification. The courses of education provided at vocational schools within the upper secondary level lead to a vocational qualification for skilled work as qualified staff, e.g. in the anerkannte Ausbildungsberufe (recognised occupations requiring formal training) or the assistant occupations.

General upper secondary school (Gymnasiale Oberstufe) at the following school types: Gymnasium/Berufliches Gymnasium/Fachgymnasium/Gesamtschule	15/16-18/19 years of age
Vocational education and training Berufsfachschule (full-time vocational education) Fachoberschule (full time vocational education) duales System – Berufschule + Betrieb (dual system: part-time vocational school and part-time on-the-job training)	15/16-18 years of age 16-18 years of age 15/16-18/19 years of age
Post-secondary non-tertiary education Berufsfachschule Fachoberschule Abendgymnasium/Kolleg duales System – Berufschule + Betrieb (dual system: part-time vocational school and part-time on-the-job training)	19-22 years of age 18-19 years of age 20-35 years of age 19-22 years of age

In order to enter a university, high school students are required to take the Abitur examination; however, students possessing a diploma from a vocational school may also apply to enter.

References

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