School Satisfaction Lowest in North Rhine-Westphalia and Highest in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg

In all regions, the biggest problem with schools is the shortage of teachers, as reported by between 74% (Bavaria) and 82% (Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia) of respondents. Between 47% (Bavaria) and 66% (North Rhine-Westphalia) complained of insufficiently renovated school buildings. Learning gaps due to Covid-19 are a serious problem according to between 58% (Bavaria) and 66% (Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland).

In the other four regions, each of which covered multiple states, 27% of respondents awarded a 1 or a 2 – just under the average for Germany as a whole. That figure was 26% in both the regions for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Berlin, and Brandenburg, and for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland. In the region covering Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and Bremen, it was 24%; the same as in the region for Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt. In these regions, the figures for the bottom grades 4, 5, and 6 were also close to the nationwide average of 24%.

More than 80% of respondents in all regions advocate standardizing final examinations for the various school-exit qualifications offered in Germany. In most of the regions, an absolute majority of 54–61% are in favor of amending Germany’s Basic Law (Grundgesetz) to allow important education policy decisions to be made by the federal government rather than the states. Only in Bavaria (44% for, 42% against) and Baden-Württemberg (46% for, 36% against) is opinion more divided. For the lion’s share (78%) of respondents, education policy is a key voting issue in state elections, especially in the eastern regions.