Difference between the 4 secondary schools Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium, Gesamtschule?

Question

like the degree/dipolma it leads to, or anything else. I already have a good idea. But i have a presentation about this and want to be able to explain it correctly.

From what i understand the first 2 schools are primarily for students that want go to a vocational school after they graduate. It leads to an apprenticeship. And Gynmasiaum is the most advance school and it leads to university.

Help me out guys

Answer 1

I can give you information on the first three schools.

(This is the information that I have for Bavaria (Bayern).

Grundschule -  Grades 1-4.    (Only in Bavaria and one other German country, the teachers decide whether the child goes to the Realschule or the Gymnasium.  Statistics from an article in the newspaper showed that somehow, for whatever reason, 2/3 of children with foreign backgrounds end up in the Hauptschule....which means severely reduced chance of going to an university.

In the 4th grade of the Grundschule, students are sorted out by their grades in German, Math, and a course called HSU...(fuzzy studies).

A 2.33 combined and a 2.0 in Math and German gets you into the Gymnasium.

A 2.66 combined and a 2,5 in Math and German gets you into the Realschule.

3.00 and higher, and you can apply to take an almost impossible test to try to qualify for the Realschule or the Hauptschule.  (Many people don't even bother, because the teachers and the parents know it's virtually impossible to pass.)

Hauptschule -  Grades 5-8 or 9.

Hauptschule - Quali -  When a student finishes the 8th class, then he/she gets something called a 'Quali'.  Most students go to the 'Berufschule', (vocational school), to learn a trade after earning their Quali.  If the student is lucky, he/she may get an apprenticeship in a business, but it is difficult with a 'Quali' education.  

Hauptschule - Mittlere Reife (Realschule qualification)

A good Hauptschule student can qualify to attend something translated as the 'M-Way'.  These grades start from the 7th class and end in the 10th class.  This qualification should supposedly be equivalent to a Realschule qualification, but an insider told me that students that have this qualification are not treated the same as a 'real' Realschule qualification.  

Inside information or the real scoop.  (Hauptschule Student=Loser)  Anybody with any ambition or sense tries to avoid the Hauptschule if all possible.  Everybody knows it's virtually a dead end, (no matter what anyone writes and says), and I took it as a personal insult when the teachers honored my children in sending them there.  I felt helpless, because as I said before, people who live in Bavaria don't have any power as to where the teachers, (and they are very subjective),  send your kids to school.  I've done tutoring, and my kids aren't any better or worse than the other kids...the only difference...my kids have a foreign background...and I guess that the teachers see my kids fit for only vocational work.

Students still have a realistic chance in the 5th and 6th grades of the Hauptschule to qualify for the Realschule, Gymnasium or a place called the Wirtschaftschule.  (This is business school, and it usually begins in the 7th grade.)

Children from the Hauptschule can choose to go to work or to try to further their education by going to school and trying to qualify for FOS (Fachoberhochschule) or BOS (Berufoberschule...for students that have had a job.)  FOS and BOS usually take three years to complete.  But once, completed, the student has earned his/her Abitur which is required for university.

Hauptschule students especially have a hard time, because the level of the education and the competence of the teachers in the Hauptschule school are lower...so they have problems in FOS or BOS classes.  (Source....Currently experiencing this situation, and not at all happy.)

Realschule -  ('Mittlerer Reife' qualification)   It is NOT a school for students if they only want to go to vocational school.

Germans are usually satisfied when their children are sent to the Realschule instead of the Gymnasium...(Just please!!! not the Hauptschule.)  With a Realschule qualification, (Grades 5-10), a student is able to get a better job or to go to FOS, (as explained above), for two years.  After finishing FOS, the student has earned his/her Abitur and a ticket to university.

Inside information -  A Realschule qualification is nothing to be frowned upon.  It's a good qualification, because students are able to get good jobs in an office, or go straight into FOS without the many problems that a Hauptschule student would face.  The teachers and classes are generally better.

In my opinion, it's the most flexible of the qualifications, because students are able to go many ways from the 7th class of the Realschule....the Math way, the Business way, or the Language way....to name a few....and it's not so limited as the Gymnasium or the Hauptschule.  

Gymnasium -  Grades 5 -12....(not to the 13th class anymore in Bavaria.)  Your information is correct about this school.  Upon completion, students can get a job, but the purpose of going to the Gymnasium is to obtain one's Abitur and study at university.    

Personal Opinion -  I find that the educational system in Germany to be lacking in flexibility and fairness.  It seems to be no hope for students who mature later on in life or cannot get along with such a rigid system since most of the decisions in the Bayern school system are made for students in the 4 grade.  There is also a lot of nepotism and favoritism that goes on for the children of the elite or academia.  Statistically, the children of these people shouldn't be that much better than 'normal' children, and for me they are over-represented in the Gymnasium.

Answer 2

As to the factual information, I agree with Melodrama completely; there is nothing to add. I disagree, however, with the conclusion. Many federal states (education is a local states' affair, not the government's) disagree with the government tampering around with local educational laws. They have proven to be fine for four decades; why tampering with them? And they're flexible enough that talented students may switch classes or even schools, and the less talented will have to go back to a lower-level school. I agree with the assumption that all people are born equal; but I strongly disagree with the notion that all people are talented equal.

Answer 3

Hauptschule is to prepare young students for life and focus on practical matters,

Gymnasium is focus on the more academic topics and prepared its students for going to the university afterwards.

Realschule technical schools (make apprenticeships)

Gesamtschule: Comprehensive schools

Answer 4

Hauptschule - diploma is called "Hauptschulabschluss". Students finish after 9th grade.

The Hauptschul-Diploma is worth sh*t, as almost no employer will take these people on. At the best they can hope for an apprenticeship, at the worst (and this applies to the majority) for a live on social welfare and to the German equivalent of working minimum wage jobs.

It is academically the least challenging of all school types and only barely above special needs ed. At these schools not studying is cool, any students with academic ambitions are bullied. Hauptschule is the kind of school where the teacher spents more time trying and failing to establish order than actually teaching. The level of noise and the lack of discipline is unbelievable.  Many students come from problematic backgrounds, parents who are drug addicts or alcoholics and who abuse their children are not uncommon. Hauptschule is a collective holding cell for all kinds of misfits. Most teachers are happy when graduates can read and write and do some basic maths. Some Hauptschulen in inner cities had to install metal detectors to prevent students bringing guns or knifes to school. The sad thing is that many migrant children end up there, bc due to their lack of German they can't keep up with classes in the other schools.

Realschule is one step above Hauptschule, students finish typically after 10th grade. Discipline is still awful, but generally better. The students there are of average intelligence and ambition and the parents come from all walks of live. Studying can be considered as being "uncool", but it differs. Having good grades will get one entry to Gymnasium.

Gymnasium - the hardest and most academically challenging. Graduation is after 12 years of school. Students need to be of above average intelligence to have any kind of chance to get good grades. Hard work is required too. Many parents are academics and have a good income. Discipline is much better since most students make an effort to follow the lectures. Students with good grades are admired, not bullied.

Gesamtschule is a combination of all three schools. It is the school that is most similar to an American highschool. Students can choose which level of classes they take - for example simple math (Hauptschule level), maths (Realschule level) and advanced maths (Gymnasium level). What classes they took and the year they graduate will determine their final degree. These schools are huge, since they need to have at least 100 students per year compared to the 30 to 50 students per year at Hauptschule or Realschule.  Gesamtschule offers the most opportunities, it is easier here for a Hauptschul-Student to get into classes leading to Abitur than anywhere else. However this also works the other way - Gymnasium students that go through a "phase" can easily end up in Hauptschule-classes. The sheer size also makes things difficult - it is not uncommon for an Arts or PE teacher not to know the names of his students, even if he has been teaching them for 2 years. There is very little social control, teachers often don't have the time to take care of individual students.

BTW, the above mentioned FOS is the one-year-course plus professional training I wrote about in another post. Graduation from FOS will get you entry into a University of Applied Sciences.

Answer 5

The German and American School system differs very much, a direct comparison isn't possible.

Here is a list that compares those two systems as close as possible.

Preschool -------Kindergarten

Kindergarten -------Vorschule

Elementary School/Grade School---Grundschule/Hauptschule

Junior High -------            Mittelschule

Senior High -------            Gymnasium /Abitur Highschool diplom

---           1.Year Freshman

---           2.Year Sophomore

---           3.Junior or Senior

College -------            Berufsschule

--- Associate Degree 2 Years             Geselle

--- Bachelor Degree   4 Years            Meister

University                    Universität

---          Master Degree 6 Years

---          Doktor/Professor differs depending on subject

Gesamtschule is a combination of Hauptschule, Realschule und Gymnasium, what kind of degree you will have at the and depends on the grades you get.

Also the right to go to a University requires a Abitur, a German Abitur differs from an American High School Diploma. In America a German Realschool Diploma will often be considered the equivalent to the High School Diploma