ifo Institute: Germans Support Measures to Combat Educational Inequality

Of those surveyed, 78 percent support state coverage of preschool fees. Furthermore, 67 percent believe compulsory preschool attendance to be a sensible way to mitigate inequality, and 61 percent want to push the assignment of students to secondary schools back to after the sixth grade. A total of 81 percent want to increase state expenditure for schools with students from disadvantaged backgrounds, while 64 percent want higher salaries for teachers who mainly teach children from disadvantaged backgrounds. 56 percent favor the introduction of all-day schooling, and only one proposal fails to achieve majority support: 44 percent are for teaching children with and without learning disabilities together, with 41 percent against.

“Despite high approval rates for policies that aim to reduce inequality, most Germans are still in favor of distributing additional funds evenly rather than giving preference to disadvantaged groups. This could make it more difficult to combat educational inequality,” says researcher Philipp Lergetporer from the ifo Center for the Economics of Education. An even distribution of additional funds is preferred by 66 to 76 percent of Germans, depending on the level of education, from preschool to university. In addition, 85 percent of respondents think that academic success depends more on personal effort than on external factors. Nevertheless, 60 percent are of the opinion that inequality between children with and without an immigration background is a serious or very serious problem.

The Good Daycare Facilities Act (Gute-Kita-Gesetz) enjoys strong support with an approval rate of 83 percent. Respondents want the additional funds to be used for lower preschool fees (56 percent), for higher salaries for educators (52 percent), and for smaller groups (also 52 percent). If there are not enough places in preschools, 78 percent think that preferential treatment should be given to single-parent households, 66 percent to families in which the parents work full-time, 65 percent to low income families, and 59 percent to families with many children. In contrast, giving preference to families with an immigration background did not achieve a majority, with only 36 percent in favor and 37 percent against.
 While there are no clear majorities for or against regular tuition (45 percent in favor, 43 percent against), 66 percent of Germans support deferring tuition until after graduation and basing them on the student’s income then.

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Survey