Schooling in Germany
A Look Into One of the Best School Systems in the World
What Makes it One of the Best?
Ring! The school day has started in Germany. Welcome to the German school district. You are going to be taught about the German school system. German schools have a very different school system compared to the United States and some could argue that it is better. Germany's school schedule and year, teacher salary and cost per student, and grading scale are all reasons the German school system is better than the United States' school system.
German School Year and Daily Schedule By Xavier Terrien
The German school year is very continuous. German students are required by law to go to school two hundred and twenty days per year (Education in Germany). German students celebrate about twelve weeks of vacation holidays per year, so the summer vacation is only about six weeks long (Education in Germany). The average school day for a German middle schooler lasts from about eight o'clock to about two o'clock and with about an hour lunch break (Schools Around the World). Because of these hours, students usually have a tremendous amount of homework every night and since schools don't offer many extracurricular activities, students have to make time on the weekends and look for an outside business for their activities (Schools Around the World).
Teacher Salary by the Day/Month/Year & Cost Per Student By Masen Powless
German public schools are funded by German taxpayers and students do not need to pay for schooling (Education in Germany). There is only a small fee for the university which is 500 Euros per semester (Education in Germany). The average yearly salary for German teachers is $48,450. If you are just beginning to work as a German teacher, you could expect a starting pay of $39,900. You can expect your pay to increase the longer you are working. As time passes, you could eventually make an income of around $57,000 (German Teacher Salary Information).
The German Grading Scale By Kayla Smith
There are two different grading systems in Germany. The first system ranges from one to six, one being the highest and six being the lowest. “Sometimes even decimal grading (1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and so on) is applied”. Grades 1 to 5 can be suffixed with + or -. "To get the average degree, the points of all exams in the last years and the points from the final exams are summarized" (The German Grading System). The points from the final exams are worth more than the other exams. "The solution can then be calculated as average grade" (The German Grading System). The second system ranges from zero to fifteen and is introduced in the higher grades. The second system is used because in the exams of high school graduation, there are points to show the final grade.
In Conclusion......
It is apparent that the German school system is better than the United States' school system. In Germany, the school system is very different in almost every aspect compared to the United States. If we created a hybrid concept where we used some parts of the school system in Germany combined with some aspects of the United States school system, it would create the best school system ever.
Works Cited
Article "Education in Germany." Wikipedia. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Web Site "Schools Around the World." Achieve3000. Achieve3000, n.d. Web.
<http://portal.achieve3000.com/kb/lesson/?lid=1784&step=11&c=1&asn=1>.
“The German Grading system.” ECTS. Anonymous, 3 June 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ph-ludwigsburg.de/html/9e-aaax-s-01/seiten/english/e_ects1.htm>.
Studying in Germany. Anonymous, 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. <http://www.studying-in-germany.org/german-grading-system/>.