Universal Periodic Review of Germany

• Broken Chalk drafted this Report to contribute to Germany’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This Report discusses the main challenges Germany faces regarding education and offers recommendations based on those challenges.
• The German education system comprises preschool, primary, secondary and tertiary education. Furthermore, although education is compulsory at the primary and secondary levels (until age 15), German education generally lasts until age 18.
• Moreover, the German education system is mainly run by the State (more precisely, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research) and is free to attend.
• Globally, Germany ranks high in education, and the PISA report shows that German students generally have good well-being.[i] However, as this report will show, among other things, there are inequalities between the highest- and the lowest-performing students. This inequality is mainly due to socioeconomic disparities in the country.[ii]

[i] PISA Report, A. Schleicher, “PISA 21018”, ECD 2019.

[ii] G. Buswell, “The German Education System”, EXPATICA, 11 January 2023.