OECD Expert Criticizes German Education

According to a report to be released this week, Germany is losing ground to other countries when it comes to educational levels. In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Andreas Schleicher, an education researcher at the Office for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said Germany was moving too slowly to reform its education system and that it was falling further behind. The country spends less on education than the average of other countries and, Schleicher said, the current way the country distributes its educational funding makes little sense. For example, he noted that less money is spent on the youngest of students, who are at a point where educators can make a real difference in their learning, than those entering college or vocational training programs. On Tuesday, the OECD will present its annual comparative report of educational systems in its member states. Previous OECD studies have come down hard on Germany, giving its students and teachers low marks compared to other Western nations.