Community Engagement

Can you tell me about your educational journey, from primary school to secondary school and to where you are now? Mr. Klein went to primary school in 1976 in suburb of Munich for the first 4 four grades. After which, he had the decision between going to vocational education for more hands-on jobs or go to gymnasium. The fundemental decision between “high school” and gymnasium is a student’s grades by 4th grade. This grade distinction, however, is not strict. Even if you miss the benchmark grades you can proceed to gymnasium on a probationary base. For himself, he went to gymnasium. What made him choose the specific school? It is based on where you are living, the school district. Gymnasium is based on residency unless you are interested in a specific combination (i.e. learning Greek instead of Englsh) then you could transfer. He learned English and Latin. How did this gymnasium education work for you? In his education, there was a slightly different system where he could focus more on the Physics and business examinations in the last two years. The Bavarian school system has changed a bit in recent years. They try to strike a balance between prerequisites (German, math, social science) versus choosing your own courses/electives. The foundation is mandatory then there are more choices. What did you do after gymnasium? After, he went to mandatory work which is either military service or volunteering in social (elder care, church, etc.). They wanted to ensure Germany had enough armed forces. This lasted 12-18 months for everyone after high school education. Now it has ended but many people still choose a “social” year even after this was abolished, similar to a gap year. In ‘89 he graduated and studied business education. He studied at Augsburg and got his PhD degree. Flexibility in educational timeline: It previously took 13 years to graduate, now only 12 years to be more comparable to other European countries. This had some support but people were fighting against it due to the increased content per grade. They reversed the decisions back to 13 based on the opinion of parents with the option that if you are smart enough (willing to take extra classes) they could still complete it in 12 years to provide flexibility. What’s the process to get into university after gymnasium? Almost all universities are public universities and follow a specific selection system. The selection process is irrelevant to which school you came from so every location is equal. Grades matter. Since there are so many people they need to balance opportunity and demand. The better your grades are, the higher your probability of getting into your top college. But, everyone has a place. The universities have now been strengthened to pick and choose. Furthermore, they look more into the profile through interviews and other aspects, not just grades. For further education, It is pretty possible to get into master's and PhD programs. If you want to continue in an academic environment you could get paid PhD position or work as an external PhD student (paying your own means). About 80% were working internally, 20% external, maybe shifted now towards more external as many continue to work at a company while pursuing a PhD. Vocational education: The general position is that on one side it provides a great opportunity for those who don’t want a theoretical education and would prefer hands-on. They offer respected certifications such as “Meister” in carpentry, cutting hair, etc. If you achieve the level below Meister's degree you can work but not train others. The Meisters are the only ones who can train others. This distinction between trades-people gets a minimum quality for manufacturing. It is not just people from the street, these people are highly qualified, think of car manufacturing. We offer another path. And it provides a minimum qualtiy for the country. It is an excellent opportunity. He also mentioned the German phrase roughly translated to “the golden haniwork” as you can be extremely successful going down this route and running your own business. If you are offering good quality services you can very successful. Social status difference? If you are at a younger age you would rate the gymnasium path as more attractive but you still need someone to fix a broken pipe. There is a common agreement that the other path has a place in the entire society. The meister degree is seen as a pride for those who go down the vocational education path. People see the differenace as a carpenter is a master of wood while a university student could be a master of calculator, equally respected. Is it prevalent for adults to return to education later in life? There is a bifurcation early in life but if you really want ot you can go to the middle path until you get the necessary licenece to start studying originally. The Fahabitur gives the opportunity to study only limited to a specific topic/theme. If you really want to then there is an opportunity to work your way back to catch up. There is time to correct your path. However, people don’t really go back to university after entering the workforce, it is less prevalent to get an MBA for example as an adult than in the US. What is the Arbitur and how does it work? This is specific to the Arbitur in Bavaria. There is a mechanism that takes into your performance in your last two years and then there is a final examination (5 classes). Also some sort of project as well a part of the program. He thinks that there is not an extreme pressure in these exams. If you screw up it can affect but it is only a part of your performance as your scores have been building over multiple years. He wanted to note that the final years in German education is not commercialized by any means. If you have a neighbor who is good at math you can ask them for help but specialized tutoring services are not a thing in Germany. The final exam is centralized by the Bavarian ministry. This provides a minimum quality standard which contributes to the respect of the system. The grades in Bavaria may be lower than other German states due to this standardization, but universities look at where your arbitur grade was taken.