How educational equality is practiced at a Bavarian secondary school

Almost 400 children and young people study at the Eichendorff School in Erlangen, Bavaria. The proportion of students with a history of migration at this secondary school is around 70%, and many students stem from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Not an easy environment for equal opportunities and educational equality, one might think. Daniela (15) and Hadi (16) paint a completely different picture: At their school, they believe that the educational success of every single student, regardless of their background, takes center stage.

In 2023, Eichendorff School was awarded the German School Award for its efforts. The Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Heidehof Stiftung have been awarding this prize since 2006. The award spotlights schools and their commitment to the educational opportunities of their students, including the school in Erlangen: "The Eichendorff School succeeds in eliminating students’ fear of making mistakes. From their experiences at elementary school, many students often only know the feeling of failure. It also succeeds in allowing them to enjoy learning again", said Thorsten Bohl, jury spokesperson for the German School Award and Director of the Tübingen School of Education. Daniela and Hadi tell us exactly how the school does this. 

"Everyone is supported at our school. I think that's really great. Everyone has the chance to obtain a suitable diploma, and nobody is left behind. In 8th grade, many were still undecided as to whether they wanted to take the EMA (Editor's note: Successful high school diploma; taken in the 9th grade) or the higher MSA (Editor's note: Intermediate high school diploma; taken in the 10th grade, making the transfer to an advanced high school possible.) Then there was a parents' and pupils' meeting in which we were advised about the advantages and disadvantages of both qualifications, and a learning dialogue between my parents, the teacher, and myself. Afterwards, all the students knew what they were aiming for. I really liked that and it was a relief for me to know which route I was taking.

All students also receive support with their learning. Additional tutoring is not necessary because the teachers are always happy to help. In the learning office, anyone can come to the teacher and have anything they did not understand explained to them. After that, you usually understand it very well. This is also the case after school: If you have a question at home, you can write to the teachers via MS Teams or something like that, and they will answer very quickly. I think that's really nice. The same goes for technology. It's great that all students at the Eichendorff School are lent an iPad and don't have to buy one themselves, because then it could get really expensive and not every family could afford it.

We are also well prepared for personal and professional life. In addition to the standard school subjects, there is also a subject called 'Challenges'. As a team, we independently chose a goal that we want to achieve. In my group, we set ourselves the challenge of cycling from Nuremberg to Passau. Even if we didn't quite make it in the end, we learned a lot. For example, supporting each other and dealing with money. Each person had 100 Euros, and we had to manage these 100 Euros for ten days. We learned that you can't spend too much on unimportant things, as you also have to pay for the camp sites and food. I think it's great that our school gives us the chance to learn about real life, too."

"I think it's good that we are taken seriously as a student body at our school. I represent the intermediate high schools as the second district school spokesperson and I often visit other schools. Students there often have no right to speak. They are simply not taken very seriously by the school management and teaching staff and are not allowed to have a say in what they want to change in the school. Fortunately, things are very different here at the Eichendorff School. We can convene a student-parent-teacher forum at any time. We sit down together and then we can say what our school needs and what we want to change. Our concerns and comments are really taken seriously.

We also have a modern learning system at our school. The learning office system also helps us to prepare for graduation. We can work independently in German, math, and English without having to rely on a teacher. We are allowed to decide for ourselves which topic we’re going to work on and when we are ready to take the exam. This makes everything more flexible and we become more independent and learn to organize ourselves. Stronger students also help the weaker ones; for example, I'm already finished with 10th grade math and can now help others who come to me with a question.

In our school, the teachers and the principal help us to develop further. They really want us to achieve something in our lives. We also have our own careers advice service. If you would like to apply for an internship or an apprenticeship, you can make an appointment and the teachers will then write the application together with you.

But when I compare our facilities with other high schools or advanced schools, it's not always fair. Our school has not yet been renovated and our physics room is outdated. I would like to see more appreciation for intermediate high schools here. Every student has the right to an appropriate education and the environment also has an influence on learning. You can only get a good job later on if you have a good education."