Education and Training Monitor 2024

1. Learning for sustainability

Learning for sustainability (LfS) is well recognised in Germany, and gradually anchored in the legal framework. The standing conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), coordinating education policies across Laender, already adopted ‘Recommendations on education for sustainable development in schools’ in 2007 (KMK, 2007). In 2015, these were translated into a ‘Learning framework for global development’ (KMK, 2015), which will be extended to the upper secondary level in 2024/2025 and updated in its general recommendations. The recommendations are not binding, and approaches and progress can differ among the Laender (Holst and Brock, 2020). In 2019, only four Laender (Berlin, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony) had explicitly anchored learning for sustainability in their school education laws, while four others had referred to it. By 2022, little had changed in the legal framework of all 16 Laender since 2019 (Brock, 2022).

Education for sustainable development aims to equip students with a general understanding of sustainability and the capacity to act and reflect on a sustainable future. Many local initiatives and institutions are active in classrooms. They collaborate with teachers and are guided and supported by school administrations. Motivated by the UN Decade of education for sustainable development, the German federal government created in 2015 a National Platform Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and networks in the different fields of education. The platform assembles key stakeholders from government, science, industry, civil society and youth to allow mainstreaming of ESD. A National Action Plan adopted in 2017 defines main objectives and actions to implement ESD (NP BNE, 2017). Recent initiatives in the different Laender include the 2021 Hamburg Masterplan on Education for Sustainable Development 2030¹, Lower Saxony’s Exemplary Act on Education for Sustainable Development² (Lower Saxony, 2021) or the Guidelines on education for sustainable development of North Rhine-Westphalia³ (KMK, 2023).

The development of LfS in higher education depends on the ambition of the Laender and their universities. The joint declaration of the German Rectors’ Conference and UNESCO on ‘Higher education institutions for sustainable development’ already introduced learning for sustainability in higher education in 2009. The 2018 declaration by German universities on how sustainability goals can be structurally anchored at universities was more operational and helped to introduce education for sustainability in the financing agreements of universities. Higher education institutions are autonomous, providing a very diverse picture of integrating learning for sustainability. In general, there is no comprehensive inclusion of sustainability in module books and in study and exam regulations (Holst and Singer-Brodowsky, 2022). 11 Laender participate in a coordination programme to ease the structural implementation of LfS.

Implementation of LfS remains slow at early childhood education and care (ECEC) and school level. An analysis of a wide range of political programmes and guidelines, curricula, assessments and teacher training documents published in 2023 (Holst, 2023) demonstrates that LfS is treated as an ‘add-on’ and is not yet fully integrated into education. National monitoring identifies a significant implementation gap in comparison with other countries worldwide on the inclusion of LfS in curricula and in teacher training (Holst & Brock, 2020). 67% of German students state that they have learned about the environment during their education and training, 5 percentage points (pps) below the EU average (European Commission, 2024a)⁴. The National Education Platform therefore proposed five areas of action in 2023 (BNE, 2023) to strengthen education for sustainable development: (1) strengthen the structural framework, including curricula; (2) experimental teaching and learning; (3) intensifying democratic culture in education; (4) establishing education for sustainable development as a guiding perspective in holistic school development; and (5) appointing coordinators in educational institutions.

LfS was already introduced into teacher training in 2007 but has yet to gain a more prominent role in curricula and actual training in the 16 Laender. Three-quarters of German teachers consider that they do have insufficient knowledge of LfS (Brock and Grund, 2018). A 2020 monitoring study covering five Laender with more than half the German teacher population confirms the need to strengthen teachers’ knowledge of LfS (Holst & Brock, 2020). One consistent finding is that most teachers lack continuous exposure to LfS during their studies. Various players are engaged in continued professional development on LfS, like the Agents’ Platform for LfS. All 16 Laender, federal⁵ and civil society organisations⁶ offer online teaching material that can be used in schools.

Germany has considerably increased efforts to promote sustainable development in the dual vocational education and training (VET) system. Since 2021, the integration of the new cross-occupational training standards⁷ ‘Environmental protection and sustainability’ and ‘Digitalised world of work’ set minimum mandatory course content requirements for all newly regulated dual training occupations⁸, which significantly modernises the system. Different pilot projects on sustainability have been launched by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, e.g. training staff transfer programme (2020-22)⁹.

Climate neutrality is a driver of VET educational reforms in Germany, and a comprehensive structural approach to greening is being put forward¹⁰. The Vocational Education for Sustainable Development Agency¹¹, which is part of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, has developed practical support material to incorporate sustainability content into 82 occupational profiles for teachers and trainers. To assess the state of play and identify further implementation measures needed, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training published a report in 2024 on ways to measure the implementation of sustainable development in VET¹². It created a framework for defining indicators and improving reporting.

2. Early childhood education and care

Despite further expanding early childhood education and care (ECEC), Germany still faces significant unmet demand for childcare. In 2022, 93.1% of children between 3 and compulsory school age attended ECEC, close to the EU average (93.0%) but below the EU-level target of 96%¹³. The share of under 3-year-olds in formal childcare has remained relatively stable for years, at around 30%. It started to drop in 2022 to reach 23.3% in 2023¹⁴. 839 000 children younger than 3 attended ECEC in 2022, an increase of 40% within a decade (BMFSJ, 2023). The participation of under 3-year-olds differs regionally; parents in the eastern part of Germany use ECEC nearly twice as often as parents in the west¹⁵. Due to a higher birth rate up until 2022, the share of under 3-year-olds in Germany increased to 2.8% in 2022, for the first time in 20 years¹⁶. Combined with higher demand from parents, this leads to a shortfall of around 385 000 places in the western Laender and 44 700 places in the eastern Laender (Bock-Famulla, K., 2023). Since 2013, all children above the age of 1 have a legal right to a place in ECEC. Unmet demand differs considerably between under 3-year-olds and the older age bracket (BMFSJ, 2022). At national level, it remained practically unchanged in 2022 compared to 2021 both for the younger cohort at about 14% and the older cohort at 4.0% (BMFSJ, 2023a).

ECEC staff shortages continue to impede both the expansion of places and the improvement of quality. Although ECEC staff more than doubled between 2003 and 2023 (ABBE, 2024), serious staff shortages persist. The National Report on Education 2024 calculates that up to 367 000 ECEC staff are needed (ABBE, 2024). Making full use of all existing training capabilities could reduce unmet staff needs until 2035 to 14 500-72 000 ECEC professionals in Western Germany (ABBE, 2024). Other estimations identify potentially bigger gaps (Bertelsmann, 2023). ECEC staff are still primarily female (93%), and 40% of staff work part-time (ABBE, 2024).

Germany aims to provide equal conditions for all children, but differences remain in service quality. Germany continues to take significant measures to improve the quality of ECEC services. It is investing EUR 4 billion in 2023 and 2024 (KiTa-Qualitätsgesetz). The situation differs by Laender and regions, including the quality of services (ABBE, 2024; Bock-Famulla, K., 2021). The current government agreement aims to provide equal conditions and quality standards for ECEC at federal level from 2025 onwards. The new quality initiative supports Laender in seven priority areas, with a strong focus on creating more equal conditions for all children in ECEC (BMFSFJ, 2023). While child staff ratios for under-three-years-olds improved slightly between 2019 and 2022 (up 0.3%), they remain in aggregate terms at 1:4 below the scientifically recommended ratios of 1:3 (Bock-Famulla, 2003a). In addition, ratios vary greatly between regions and have not everywhere improved. For under-three-year-olds Baden-Württemberg has the ideal 1:3.0 ratio, while Mecklenburg-Vorpommern lags behind with 1:5.8. The workload of existing staff, compounded by illness and absenteeism, continues to worsen year by year, which has an additional negative impact on staff/child ratios (Schieler, 2023).

3. School education

The rate of students leaving education and training early has increased over time. In contrast to the EU trend of a decrease in early school leaving rates (to 9.5%), Germany’s rate increased from 9.8% in 2013 by 3 pps to 12.8% in 2023¹⁷, substantially above the EU-level target of below 9%. The rate for young men (15.2%) is 4.8 pps higher than for young women (10.4%)¹⁸, and this gender gap has increased more than fivefold in 10 years (0.9 pps in 2013) mainly due to a distinct increase in the male share. And while the rate for German-born 18- to 24-year-olds was 9.7% in 2023, it was three times higher for foreign-born young people (29.4%)¹⁹, and topped at 33.5% for young people born outside the EU²⁰.

Figure 1: Underachievement rates by field, PISA 2012, 2018 and 2022 (%)

For 15-year-olds, 3 out of 10 lack a minimum level of proficiency in mathematics, and their share has continuously increased since 2015. In the 2022 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 29.5% of 15-year-olds in Germany underperformed in mathematics, 25.5% in reading and 22.9% in sciences (OECD, 2023). Values have profoundly increased over the last decade (+11.8/11.0/10.7 pps respectively). Underachievement has increased especially among students from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds, widening the socio-economic gap. Disadvantaged students saw a 9.9 pps increase between 2018 and 2022. In 2022, about half (46.6%) of students from disadvantaged backgrounds did not reach a minimum proficiency level in mathematics (vs 32.6% in 2012). Alarmingly, also about two-thirds (64.0%) of students born abroad underachieve in mathematics.

The share of top-performing students is above the EU average. 8.6% of German students reach the highest PISA levels in mathematics and 8.2% and 9.5% in reading and science, above the EU average in all three fields. However, their share has halved in mathematics since 2012 (-8.9 pps) and contracted by a fifth (-2.5 pps) in science. This decline is more pronounced than the EU average.

Levels of basic skills in Germany continue to decline, linked to socio-economic disadvantage and lack of resources. The long school closures in Germany during COVID-19 may have exacerbated the longer-term trend in declining education outcomes (Nusser, 2024). However, the decline is mainly associated with socio-economic disadvantage, including having a migrant background. Schools face increasingly complex situations and seem to lack the resources to deal with them (ABBE, 2024). An increasing shortage of teachers in certain subject areas, school forms and regions make the situation even more complex.

A weak social economic background is the main reason for low education outcomes, more relevant than migration. The score point difference in performance in mathematics of students with a migration background shrinks to -8 after accounting for socio-economic background and language spoken at home²¹. However, the educational disadvantage of learners with a migration background persists, while the share of students with a migrant background doubled between 2012 and 2022 (from 13.4% to 25.8%). Children with a migrant background and/or from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds attend vocational schools more often. In 2022, 44% of students without a migrant background attended a gymnasium (school that prepares pupils for university entrance) compared to 30% with a migrant background and only 15.9% of those born outside Germany. Educational disadvantage starts early, with children from a disadvantaged and/or migrant background starting early childhood education later or attending less frequently than their more privileged peers (ABBE, 2024). The performance difference in mathematics between the bottom and the top socio-economic quartile is large, at 111 PISA score points, 9 score points above the EU average. The share of students underperforming in mathematics from the bottom socio-economic quarter increased by 14 pps (EU: 10.1 pps rise) in a decade, to 46.6% in 2022²². Disadvantaged students are more than three times (3.32) more likely to underperform compared to non-disadvantaged students²³.

Germany formulates school education policies at regional level with targeted federal input. German Laender follow various strategies to improve education outcomes and basic skills, especially of young people from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds. Proven programmes include BiSS and BISS-Transfer, which provide language support to improve reading and writing in schools, or QuaMath, which helps develop teaching and training quality in mathematics, and was established in 2023. The recently adopted new Startchancen Programme will span over 10 years and employs a new approach by distributing federal funding to the Laender on a more needs-based formula. This method will take into account the dimensions of poverty and migration of the schools targeted (see box). Close scientific monitoring of the approach will allow to optimise implementation and further programme development. While it will not reach all schools in needs, it is an important answer to identified challenges, signalling a potential shift to longer-term and comprehensive policy responses, however it might not yet fully cover all existing needs. The standing conference of German education ministers has decided to further improve harmonised education quality monitoring beyond IQB (Institut für Qualitätsentwicklung im Bildungswesen) education standards. Under the logo ‘Strong in Primary School’, harmonised testing in mathematics, German language, self-regulation aspects and motivational-emotional orientations in all Laender will provide information for teachers and support common systemic quality development across Germany²⁴.

4. Vocational education and training

Germany has a well-established VET system and is implementing reforms to further promote its attractiveness as well as VET mobility. More than half of students at medium-level education in Germany attend vocational programmes (57.7% in 2021)²⁶. Work-based learning in VET is extensive (94.1% of recent graduates experienced it in 2023)²⁷. The employment rate of recent VET graduates is high (92.7% in 2023)²⁸. However, the successful school-to-work transition towards VET is severely affected by the lack of basic skills among students: the share of underachieving students in reading, mathematics and science has increased dramatically since 2012 (see section 3). This development has caused concern, combined with the perception that the competences of applicants for apprenticeships have declined²⁹. Despite the high vacancy rate and skills shortages, many young people still do not have opportunities for an apprenticeship. To counteract this trend, Germany has introduced the apprenticeship guarantee from 1 August 2024 (BMAS a). This guarantee supports young people from a disadvantaged background who could not find an apprenticeship on their own, providing accompanying training opportunities financed by the Federal Employment Agency.

The government launched measures to support the school-to-work transition and the recognition and validation of skills. The Alliance for Initial and Further Training (BMAS b, Cedefop and ReferNet, 2023a) has been relaunched for 2023-2026 to support the school-to-work transition and promote inclusive VET. In addition to the apprenticeship guarantee (see above), from January 2025 the Vocational Training Act (Berufsbildungsgesetz) and the Crafts Code (Handwerksordnung) will provide regulations to determine and certify if individual professional competences are comparable to vocational training. The Federal Employment Agency launched the national online portal for continuing VET³⁰ as a one-stop shop for streamlining the complex system of continuing vocational training and offering guidance to the target audience. The Skilled Immigration Act, adopted in July 2023, makes it easier for skilled workers with vocational training and individuals with practical knowledge to immigrate to Germany.

5. Higher education

Tertiary education attainment in Germany increased, but still lags behind the EU average. From 2013 to 2023, Germany increased the tertiary education attainment rate of people aged 25-34 by 8.5 pps, slightly above the EU average of 8.0 pps³¹. At 38.4%, Germany is still 4.7 pps behind the EU-27 average (43.1%) and significantly below the 45% EU-level target for 2030. The relatively low attainment rate can partly be linked to the strong and important dual VET system³². At 54.3%, Berlin has the highest tertiary education attainment level in Germany, up by 16.1 pps since 2013. In contrast, Saxony-Anhalt only reached 20.3% in 2023, less than half the level in Berlin³³. Tertiary attainment is significantly higher in cities, with 45.6% in 2023 compared to 32.5% in towns and 30.2% in rural areas.

Tertiary education attainment levels are lower for young people (25-34) born in a foreign country and with a lower socio-economic background. There is less of a difference between native-born and foreign-born people in tertiary education attainment than in the EU on average. In 2023, 33.15% of 25-to-34-year-olds from another EU country, 36.9% from a non-EU foreign country and 39.3% born in Germany held a tertiary education degree. The rates at EU level were 40.2%, 37.1% and 44.2% respectively. In Germany, nearly as many young men as young women have completed tertiary education. The gender gap continues to be the lowest in the EU. At 4.9 pps in 2023, it was about a third of the EU average (11.2 pps)³⁴. Holding a tertiary education degree is still strongly influenced by the socio-economic and educational background of parents. In 2021, 24% of all Germans aged 25-65 obtained a tertiary education degree. The share increased to 56% if at least one parent had a university degree and dropped to 12% for parents with less than upper secondary educational attainment (ABBE, 2024).

Learning mobility is generally high in Germany, especially inward mobility at PhD and Master’s level. German universities are strongly linked to institutions in and outside the EU through diverse cooperation agreements (HRK, 2020). 13.2% of German tertiary education graduates (ISCED 5-8) were mobile in 2022, 3.2 pps above the EU-27 average, although the country does not yet meet the European ambition of 23%³⁵. Among them, 4.7% graduated abroad, and 8.5% only had a short study period abroad. Germany is highly attractive as a study destination for international graduates, attracting 18.6% of master graduates and 26.4% of PhD graduates from abroad, with most of them coming from outside the EU (15.3% and 19.6% respectively). Internationalisation of German universities is framed by combined federal and Laender strategies. A new strategy of the federal state and the Länder building on a broad stakeholder consultation in 2023 was adopted in 2024 (KMK, 2024). Policy action in Germany is facilitated by comprehensive monitoring practices of international mobility (European Commission, 2023). Student mobility is supported through a combination of general and needs-based support (European Commission, 2023), where student support is generally portable for both credit and degree mobility (European Commission, 2023).

Figure 2: Degree mobility balance (degree mobility within and outside the EU; net sender and net receiver countries), 2022

6. Adult learning

Participation in adult learning has improved and if Germany continues on this path, it could meet both the EU headline skills target (60%) and the national target (65%) by 2030. The adult learning rate grew from 46.4% in 2016 to 53.7% in 2022³⁶. The National Skills Strategy works to strengthen continuous education in specific working groups. Several projects are supported by the European Social Fund Plus, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Technical Support Instrument. The National Decade for Literacy and Basic Education (2016-2026) is the main political framework for basic skills. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Laender lead on this, supported by various stakeholders (administrative, civil society and economic).

A major challenge is access and an unclear funding outlook after the formal end of the National Decade for Literacy and Basic Education in 2026, shortages of teaching staff and access of disadvantaged population subgroups. The National Decade focuses on adults with low basic skills. To address the problem where adults in need of basic education often take advantage of ad hoc offers but do not pursue a longer-term learning path, the concept of basic education pathways³⁷ was introduced in summer 2023 as part of the National Decade.

National and European funding helps improve the basic skills of adults. The National Decade follows on from several funding schemes established by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research since 2007. The alphadekade website³⁸ currently lists 38 subsidised projects. Nine projects on basic skills are funded by the European Social Fund Plus at federal level³⁹. The Technical Support Instrument⁴⁰ supported projects on the digital upskilling strategies for Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia in 2021⁴¹.