Public and Private School Choice in the German Primary Education Sector: An Empirical Analysis of Parental Reasons
Privatisation trends in public affairs can be recognised all over the world, including education. In the past two decades, the private education sector of the German school system has expanded continuously. Its percentage in the school system increased up
- PDF / 256,647 Bytes
- 21 Pages / 419.528 x 595.276 pts Page_size
- 47 Downloads / 175 Views
ntroduction Privatisation trends in public affairs can be recognised all over the world, including education (Preuschoff and Weiß 2004). In the past two decades, the private education sector of the German school system has expanded continuously.1 Its percentage in the school system increased up to 9% (StBA 2016a). This increase is mainly explained by a variety of newly approved primary schools. In the school year 2015/2016, 12.7% of private school pupils attended a private primary school (StBA 2016a). However, it should be noted that these figures are based on significant regional differences: on the one hand, this is due to a different distribution of private schools in the Western and Eastern German federal states; on the other hand, there is a considerable difference between rural and urban areas
1More
detailed information can be found in the national case study on Germany by Nikolai and Koinzer in this book.
C. Habeck (*) · J. Schwarz · S. Gruehn Institute of Education Science, Westfälische Wilhelms University Münster, Münster, Germany T. Koinzer Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Department of Education Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH 2017 T. Koinzer et al. (eds.), Private Schools and School Choice in Compulsory Education, DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-17104-9_12
201
202
C. Habeck et al.
(Koinzer and Gruehn 2013). This means that the above-mentioned strong rise can be seen in Germany, especially in the new federal states in the Eastern Part of Germany and also in the city-states (ibd.). In Berlin for example, the number of private pupils rose up to more than 10% in recent years (SenBJW 2016). Moreover, the amount of private primary schools in Berlin is higher than the national average (Koinzer and Gruehn 2013). In particular, the rapid rise of private primary schools is noticeable as their establishment is linked to legal difficulties and peculiarities. Private primary schools have to offer a special profile, for example a religious, pedagogical or linguistic profile, in order to be permitted by law (GG, Article 7). In addition to the development in the private school system, various changes also can be observed in the public school system. The Education Act states that public schools are committed to distinguish themselves in an educational or thematic way to recruit pupils. For example, this can be achieved by creating a specific pedagogical, linguistic or creative profile. The respective pedagogical aims and profile-building focal points are recorded in a school programme (SchulG BE 2004 § 8). At the same time, according to an OECD report, a general trend can be observed in which parents are given more and more opportunities in school choice processes (OECD 2006; Jurczok and Lauterbach 2014). The choice between schools presupposes possible differences concerning their type of school, their school authority or their pedagogical and content-related focal points (Jurczok and Lauterbach 2014). The first-mentioned aspect only relates to the sec
Data Loading...
