Goal 4 – Quality Education – Teach First Germany — 1014 | Space for Ideas | New York City

Ulf Matysiak: Education and access to high quality teaching and learning should be considered a fundamental right. However, in reality, receiving a good education in Germany is a question of your family’s socioeconomic background: Access to good schools and success in school both depend on where your family lives, what your parents earn, and which kind of education they have. These challenges often sum up to obstacles which children are not able to overcome by themselves. Currently, every year, 17-20% of students in Germany face the risk of becoming unemployed – either because they drop out of school, finish their high school diplomas with low point averages or do not find a transition into a vocation or apprenticeship after leaving school. We must adapt our educational system in ways that empower every child to become an active citizen and build a future not based on their parents’ biography but on their own potential.

Teach First Germany sends college alumni, so called fellows, into schools – How does their everyday work look like?

Teach First Germany Fellows work with freshmen and sophomores in low-income neighborhood schools, preparing them to graduate with a qualification equivalent at least to the high school diploma. For two years, our Fellows work with two classes and around fifty students. Their goals: no one drops out, everyone passes their final exams, and everyone leaves school with a meaningful perspective for their further education or professional life.