Germany’s education minister suggests classroom cap on immigrant pupils

Karin Prien says number of immigrant pupils per class could be capped at 30 or 40 per cent

German Minister for Education Karin Prien has suggested capping the number of migrant pupils in German classes. AFP

Germany’s education minister has sparked heated debate after suggesting the proportion of migrant children in each school classroom could be capped at 30 or 40 per cent.

Karin Prien’s comments have drawn criticism from opposition parties and teachers' unions, who say the proposals would be unworkable in many parts of the country.

During an interview with Welt TV, Ms Prien was asked whether introducing a policy similar to Denmark's, capping the number of migrant pupils per class, could be applied to Germany.

She replied it was a "conceivable model", adding: "I think it always makes sense to look at the experiences of other countries, whether it is 30 per cent or 40 per cent in the end."

In Denmark, some secondary schools have tried setting up classes comprising entirely migrants and others with the percentage of migrants limited to 50 per cent in a bid to improve attainment.

Ms Prien, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, said ensuring migrant pupils had German language skills was crucial and they should receive "compulsory language support measures" if necessary.

“Are we actually ensuring that children can speak German when they start school?” she said. “Because without knowledge of German upon starting school, I actually have little chance of having a successful educational career".

But Stefan Dull, president of the German Teachers' Association, said that in some areas of cities such as Berlin or Munich, the proportion of the population with a migrant background is about 50 per cent, and in some elementary schools, even 80 or 90 per cent.

Pupils attend a class to welcome immigrant children at a school in Berlin. Getty

"At first glance, an upper limit for children with a migration background in school classes appears to be a possible solution to educational problems but in practice, it is hardly feasible,” he said.

"An artificial limitation would mean that children would have to travel long distances to get to school, which is contrary to the principle of local schooling.”

The Federal Government’s Integration Commissioner, Natalie Pawlik, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is part of Mr Merz’s coalition government, rejected the proposal and said integration is best achieved through targeted support.

“Germany does not need a quota in the classroom,” she said.

Jasmina Hostert, education policy spokeswoman for the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said children must receive support in schools "regardless of their background”.

Criticism of Ms Prien also came from the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party, which first came up with the idea of caps on migrant pupils in classrooms.

The party described her proposal as “too lax” and called for a limit of just ten per cent.

Debate about the integration of migrant pupils into German schools comes as data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) shows pupils with foreign-born parents tend to do dramatically worse than those from indigenous families.

Andreas Schleicher from the OECD has backed Karin Prien. Photo: Raul Gabat

Reading scores for immigrant children born outside the country were about 20 per cent lower than those of children whose parents were born in Germany.

Andreas Schleicher, who founded the Pisa studies and continues to lead them, offered his backing to Ms Prien.

“We know from our comparative studies that the concentration of students with a migrant background is a crucial factor for school performance," he told the German newspaper Die Welt.

"This means that education systems that evenly distribute students with a migrant background have a decisive advantage."

Capping migrant pupils at 30 per cent in classrooms was proposed by Italy’s education minister Maria Stella Gelmini, of the right wing People of Freedom Party, back in 2009 but the plan was shelved.