During my time in Germany, I was exposed to the German school system. It has a very different structure than our schools in the United States. Even so, there are still some similar problems that occur. I think comparing and contrasting the two could help both sides learn more about what they can do to better ensure education equity.
While teaching in the school system I noticed a disconnect with languages. German is the language of the country and is the most widely used both inside and outside of school. However, not every student speaks German at home and thus have different needs than those who do. Immigrants in the United States not already familiar with English share this same need.
In the past decade Germany has welcomed migrants with different cultures and languages, seeking refuge from war and economic hardship, and Germany has, as a result, become a very diverse society. But newcomers still need intensive education in German to take full advantage of German schools.
The Ministry of Education has implemented several programs in order to close this gap. They have offered intensive German courses to new immigrants, founded multilingual school programs and allowed students to test in more languages than just German.
