Education in Berlin - Reform of Education

Reform of Education

In the future there will only be two types of secondary schools in Berlin:

1. the Sekundarschule: The Senate of Berlin decided that Hauptschulen, Realschulen and Gesamtschulen should be merged to become the new Sekundarschule. The Sekundarschule will be a comprehensive schools and serve students from a wide range of abilities. Depending how well they did in school, students graduating from a Sekundarschule will receive the Hauptschulabschluss, the Realschulabschluss or the Abitur. Class size for the Sekunddarschule will be 25 students.
2. The Gymnasium (college preparatory school). It was ruled that Berlin's Gymnasium should no longer be allowed to handpick all off their students. It was ruled that while they should be able to pick 65% to 70% of their students, the other places at the Gymnasien are to be allocated by lottery. Every child will be able to enter the lottery, no matter how he or she performed in primary school. It is hoped that this policy will increase the number of working class students atteding a Gymnasium. Class size for the Gymnasium will be 32 students.