How Much Education Do We Need to Give Young People?
Some time ago, we at FIZE raised a deliberately fundamental question in an open letter: In view of the changes taking place in our society, is it really still appropriate to discuss weakening compulsory schooling – or should we actually be talking about the opposite?
Our starting point was not a call for “more schooling” for its own sake. Rather, we are concerned with the question of what minimum level of education young people need today in order to shape their future lives independently and to succeed in an increasingly complex world of work and society.
Among other things, we therefore proposed discussing whether full-time compulsory schooling should in future be linked more closely to the achievement of an educational objective rather than solely to a specified number of years spent at school. We also asked whether the current Hauptschulabschluss or Berufsreife – Germany’s first-level school-leaving qualification – should, in the long term, continue to represent the level of education at which general education schools can consider their fundamental mission fulfilled.
We have now received a detailed response to this open letter from the Ministry of Education and Daycare of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. We would like to express our sincere thanks for this. After all, this was precisely the aim of our open letter: not to proclaim a ready-made solution for education policy, but to initiate a discussion.
The response from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania illustrates very clearly why this discussion is necessary. The Ministry points out that even the Berufsreife, the first school-leaving qualification, already represents a considerable hurdle for a number of students. An attainable first qualification that provides access to vocational pathways is therefore particularly important for lower-achieving students. At the same time, the Ministry refers to various forms of support: early-warning systems for students at risk of leaving school without a qualification, a voluntary tenth year of schooling, measures to strengthen basic skills, and opportunities to obtain a missing qualification at a later stage, for example through a vocational preparation year.
And this is precisely where two different perspectives meet.
One perspective asks: How can we ensure that students for whom even today’s first school-leaving qualification represents a major hurdle can obtain an attainable qualification that provides access to vocational pathways? This is an important question.
At FIZE, we additionally ask another question: Should society’s minimum expectations of education be determined by the level that as many people as possible can achieve today – or by the level of education and skills that young people will need in the future? After all, the demands placed on them are not decreasing. Digitalisation and artificial intelligence are changing occupations and professional profiles. Information and media literacy are becoming increasingly important. Economic, social and political contexts are becoming more complex. Critical thinking, problem-solving skills and the ability to continuously acquire new knowledge are gaining in importance.
If we therefore conclude that young people will need more skills in the future, then, from our perspective, the answer cannot be to keep expectations low because some students already struggle with the current level. Another possible answer would be: raise expectations – while at the same time increasing support so that as many young people as possible can actually reach that higher level. This leads us to a second fundamental question. In its response, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania outlines the opportunities available after regular full-time compulsory schooling if a school-leaving qualification has not yet been obtained. These opportunities are important and necessary.
But we ask ourselves:
What level of educational achievement should general education schools themselves already ensure – and what may or should we leave to subsequent educational pathways? It is noteworthy in this context that the Ministry itself describes the mission of schools in very broad terms: schools should not merely impart knowledge, but should help young people develop into mature and capable members of our society.
Perhaps this is precisely where the real question for the future lies: What minimum competencies does a mature young person need in 2030 or 2040 – and how must schools be designed so that as many young people as possible can acquire these competencies?
We do not have a simple answer to this question. Nor do we believe that there is a simple answer. But we believe it is necessary to ask the question.
We would therefore like to express our sincere thanks to the Ministry of Education and Daycare of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania for its detailed and substantive engagement with our open letter. Different perspectives are not an obstacle to dialogue. They are where dialogue begins.
