Mathematics professor Bernhard Krötz compares India’s school requirements to those of NRW – and draws disastrous conclusions. What does the responsible school ministry have to say about this?

Cologne – Something has to happen in the German education system. Everyone agrees on that – politicians, teachers, parents and students. But it happened: nothing. The failed education ministers’ summit by Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), in which almost no education ministers took part, was followed by a conference of education ministers. This is about, to match a high school diploma.

But is the question of how to unify the Abitur in Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt really a problem in German schools? Not for Bernhard Krötz. On February 21, the math professor uploaded a video to YouTube. The clicks are usually in the four-digit range. This video stands out with over 160,000 views. Apparently he hit a nerve. Krötz was sitting in front of a wall of books. He spoke calmly, matter-of-factly and calmly. The spirit is great.

Because Krötz got first-hand experience of how well Abitur prepares for a degree in mathematics. The sobering conclusion: not at all. Students in the first semester are “math beginners”. Taking responsibility for this is too shallow a teaching in high school. “One can only smile about the requirements in scientific fields in Asia,” said Krötz.

Mathematics professor: German students will be overwhelmed in India

Krötz is concrete in his explanations. He compared exam assignments from India with requirements in North Rhine-Westphalia. Krötz chose the “Joint Entrance Exam” (JEE) as a reference. This is the most important test in India. Those who master it can choose a university. Krötz took the task-by-task test and came to the conclusion that hardly any German student would pass this test. Failure rate is also high in India. Out of 400,000 students, only 10,000 answered half the questions correctly. But it was much more important for Krötz: no Indian student was in the bottom 15 percent. This is also because of the very strict time limit of three hours. The mathematics professor believes that with more time, many Indians could manage at least a third. He didn’t trust German students to do that.

There is also a need for more trained scientists in this country. Even more important: trained female scientists. About a third of students are girls and two thirds are boys. In the field of software development and especially IT, companies complain that there are too few young people. According to the NRW Employers’ Association, the shortage of skilled workers in the MINT (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology) fields is already “a real danger to the location of businesses, to our prosperity, and also to transformation”.

With local requirements, you can’t control this problem, says Krötz. He dismantled a draft of the new NRW core curriculum in mathematics that had not yet been published. It remains unclear where he got the design. Krötz’s conclusion: the task is too easy.

School education in India: Greater focus on science

Totally different wind i.e. pressure to perform, be careful in India. There, the entire school education is much more demanding and more focused on the natural sciences, says Krötz. If an Indian student focuses on MINT subjects, he or she has six hours of math, chemistry and physics per week. Plus, another six hours of biology or computer science lessons.

Criticism rolling in from those in charge. “In the JEE India test, knowledge is tested in many areas which are only given at the university level. Against this backdrop, comparisons of JEE-Advanced with the draft new math core curriculum for the upper school level do not appear to be appropriate,” said the NRW Ministry of Education. In addition, the video shows a version of the draft core curriculum “which is largely inconsistent with the published version.” “.

In simple language: Indian students must meet math requirements which only German students have to meet at university. One could argue that the German education system – given the global competition for the brightest people – is geared towards the best and in itself tightens requirements. The NRW Ministry of Education reached a different conclusion: “School subjects do not reflect university disciplines.” School is still school, university is still university.

Discussion of human rights: is India the right role model?

The mathematician Krötz wouldn’t like that. In his video, he complains about unprepared math students. Abitur no longer has anything to do with university entrance qualifications. And something else bothered him. He criticized the target mentioned in the draft of the new core curriculum. This includes human rights, values ​​and democratic education. But it should be about content, skills and knowledge.

What Krötz is missing: the target is the parameters by which India still has to catch up. In the 24-minute video, he does not answer the question of how far the country should be a role model. After all, India is ranked 84th in the University of Würzburg’s “Matrix of Democracy”. Germany is in fifth position.