Bad German and other deficits: Failure doesn’t just start at school

Overwhelm: Anyone who asks around at compulsory schools in metropolitan areas will regularly come across this finding. Research into the causes cannot ignore the massive immigration. Many children who speak German poorly, come from “educationally disadvantaged” families, and sometimes have had traumatic experiences of flight and war: the schools are said to be far from being equipped to deal with this challenge. In the words of one teacher: “We can’t handle this anymore.”