How would you describe german education? why do some germans go to 3rd world countries before going to college

Question

How would you describe german education? why do some germans go to 3rd world countries before going to college

Answer 1

The first answer gives you a good impression of the German education system. Therefore, I only want to reply to your second question. Among other goals German education in general is aimed at introducing students to a broad range of fields of interest. Learning about foreign cultures other than in Europe is considered to be very important for your professional life and for a better understanding among all nations on this planet. That's one reason the number of young people going abroad not only to so called 3rd world countries is constantly increasing.

Answer 2

very simple, we wnat to learn from the world before we only study sometimes stupid things on universitys.

I have done 8 weeks in a Kibbuz in Israel, 2 times 6 weeks in the Phillipines, once in Manila and one time in Bacolod City, that has tough me a lesson for lifetime.

And I did 8 week's in Nicaragua which also gave me a wider horizon for the rest of my life.

I think these years (weeks) are much better lessons for your own life than any college or university can give you.

Try it yourself, you will learn so much and it will change your entire life if you not supercool.

Bernd

Answer 3

@ ShlomoNYC : Hey you ******* idiot above me what are you talking for ****.

Our school system is great everybody can make it up to  a doctor or a judge it doenst matter if you are rich or poor if you want to learn you can make it here and get a well payed job!!!

and we definitly dont put poor kids into Extra Schools what a freaking lie !!!

Answer 4

The  German school system sucks ... worse than the US. The y put rich kids in extra schools - they do well.  They put poor kids and immigrants in "extra" schools as well. Few immigrants get a high school diploma, even poor Germans often do not graduate.

Answer 5

the German school system consists of three main branches of school after Elementary school, which you attend from age 6 to 10.

The three branches are "Hauptschule" ("main school), which is the most basic form of education. It goes up to year 9, which is, agewise, around  15. Hauptschule concentrates on basic scills such as rudimental math, a little bit of English, a little bit of this and that, and than on writing applications and cvs. The kids also have to do some internships during their school breaks to check out jobs they'd like to do. With graduating Hauptschule, you are not allowed to study. Your diploma is called "Hauptschulabschluß", if you are better than a certain grade, you get the "Qualifizierten Hauptschulabschluß" or, for short, the "Quali". Most people try to get an apprenticeship after that, but the number of kids coming out of Hauptschule and never getting an apprenticeship rise. Getting an apprenticeship with only the "Hauptschulabschlußß" is basically impossible. Hauptschule today is much discussed and there are people who want to get rid of it. If you graduated very well from Hauptschule, you are free to go over to the tenth year of Realschule to get your "mittlere Reife".

Than there is Realschule (=real school), which goes up to class 10, or, agewise, to about 16. Here you can choose between branches (economical, technical, social,...), but you get a good education, meaning you have a little Chemistry and Physics, English, you might be able to take a second foreing language, and so on. Your graduation diploma is called "Mittlere Reife". You are not alloud to apply to University with it. Most people (~60%) are going into apprenticeships after they graduate, the rest goes on to "Fachoberschule"n, which are special two-year schools, where you can also choose to attend a special branch (Social studies, science, economics, art,...). Fachoberschulen are considered "second-chance education" officially.

Than there is Gymnasium. There really is no good translation for this word. You attend Gymnasium up to grade 12 (used to be grade 13), so that makes you roughly 18 when you graduate. You start your education in Gymnasium in grade 5, and basically everybody is teached the same stuff, except the first foreign language, which you can choose. Most of the time people choose English. this goes on for the first three years (Unterstufe). Than you choose your second language. Everything else basically stays the same. Than for 9th grade,you choose the branch you want to attend. Branches offered are different from school to school (one might offer new languages, old languages, art and social studies, the other might offer science, economics and management...), which is what regularly gets classses mixed up anew. You study in the chosen branch until you complete grade 11(or grade 10. I don't know. When I attended, Gymansium was still a grade 13 thing, than, and you studied in your branch including year 11), than you choose two "Leistungskurse", which will be your main subjects until you graduate, and several "Grundkurse", which you also will have to write tests in. As far as I know, you must choose maths and one language, and there are certain combinations that you are not allowed to take, but that's about it with regulation. Whether you can take what you want depends on whether there are enough people who also want to take that course. For example, you will probably have a hard time finding enough people who will want to take "Religion" as a Leistungskurs, whereas you won't have any problems finding class mates for "Biology" as a Leistungskurs.

However good the education on Gymnasium is, there is little focus on practical work experience, and basically no school requires their kids to do an internship. So when they come out, ready and allowed to attend University with their "Allgemeine Hochschulreife"-diplomas, they feel kind of lost. They have no idea what they can study, because the different subjects are just overwhelming in number, and information is, depending on your local "Arbeitsamt", which is also responsible for informing people about their different opportunities, mostly hard to come by, and not really up-to-date, though with the Internet, it has become better.

So, numerous people are tryig to get time in to get their heads clear and be able to think what they want to do with the rest of their lives. For guys, graduating from Gymnasium meant for long years that either the Army, or a year of social service was waiting for you by the door of your school (not literally, but still), if you had not been declared unfit to serve. In the more recent years, discussions came up wheher Army should not be also a must for the girls. That idea was very short-lived as it became apparent, that the Army would need and draft far fiewer recruits than there were eligible young guys, so why make it a must for the girls anyway. Than the trend came up that guys having to do a year of social service where trying, and actually doing so, in another country. Many people, girls, boys and people declared unfit for service became interested in that idea, but could not get the information and the opportunity to do so, because the had no rights to the information necessary to begin with application. Than the Governement regulated this, creating the term "Freiwilliges soziales Jahr". THis has been very popular ever since, and let to much more people also doing a gap year, just not a social-service one. Peole are swarming the globe being Au-Pairs in intersting countries, being in Australia on "Travel and Wor" visas or backpacking their way through Europe, getting the odd job along the wy, before they come back to attend University.

I guess, as to your question, it was the whole debate about drafting girls into the Army and what to offer as alternatives that started all of this.