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Education

GERMANY’S DREAM OF ELITE-UNIVERSITIES

by Prof. Daniel Simonovich

Many years have passed since the times when German Universities were counted among the best in the world. Despite having to learn the difficult and very complex German language, students from all over the world once upon a time flocked to Germany to study German literature and philosophy. Germany was the place to study for those who wanted to closely follow the advance of science and the development of philosophical thinking. A particular feature of Germany’s success in science was the Humboldtian Principle. Wilhelm von Humboldt held the post as education minister, reformed the educational system and created a uniform German school system. More importantly, Humboldt in 1810 founded the University of Berlin and thereby introduced revolutionary teaching methods. Instead of following teaching plans, university teaching staff was now encouraged to conduct scientific research together with their students, and this without predefined restraints. This concept of academic freedom proved to be a great success and was later adapted by American institutions. With the Second World War, the German scientific leadership came to an abrupt end. During the years of re-construction in the 50s and 60s, higher education was a privilege for the few. As a result, the students and social justice movements of 1968 pushed for making higher education available to all social classes. The students protested against an old-fashioned authoritarian behaviour among university professors, which they saw as a relict of the Nazi era, a time when universities were used actively for spreading Nazi propaganda and the Nazi ideology and Jewish scientists such as Albert Einstein were forced to leave the country.

During the 70s, the German university system was subject to a strong expansion and higher education was made available to the masses. This was in accordance with the above-mentioned contemporary Social Justice Movement. In addition, a new type of educational institution was established; the practice oriented University of Applied Sciences.

Current situation and problems in Germany
The radical expansion of German Universities soon brought about new problems and challenges. The idea of higher education for all resulted in quantity instead of quality. The adherence to the Humboldtian Principles has in this context proven to be fatal. Professors now in reality have the freedom to choose not to engage themselves in a less academically motivated student body. Furthermore, in order to reduce their own work load, professors happily engage students who are seeking a doctorate as their scientific assistants. These students are anyway dependent on the goodwill of their respective professors if they are to realise their ambitions of earning a doctorate.

Many students on the other hand interpret academic freedom in the way that they, due to poor supervision and a subsequent lack of orientation, have the right to almost indefinitely prolong their studies. The result is that employers often can confirm that university graduates not seem to have gained much relevant knowledge from their university studies. This could be referred to the fact that German universities to this day argue that a practice orientated education would mean an unacceptable interference of the academic freedom and could limit and bias the universities’ independence.

The aspiration for elite universities
As if not the situation for the German education system already was grave, the so-called Pisa Report revealed that German schools (apart from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) in comparison to other OECD countries are of rather mediocre quality. Two years ago the general dissatisfaction and frustration among German students thus lead to a new wave of student protests. In contrast to the 1968 generation students, this time did not revolt against authoritarian structures, but instead protested against unacceptable academic conditions. It has been known for a long time that the best German graduates prefer to continue their academic career abroad rather than in Germany. The US in particular has become a very popular destination for young German academics.