Third graders in Baden-Württemberg have deficits in the areas of German and mathematics. This is the result of the most recent nationwide comparative work (Vera), in which 89,000 boys and girls took part. Too many students did not reach the minimum standards for primary school graduation in reading, spelling and mathematics, as the Ministry of Education announced on Thursday in Stuttgart.

In addition, educational success is still too heavily dependent on social background. For example, 52 percent of the students who come from educationally disadvantaged homes did not achieve the minimum reading standard. Among the children from privileged homes, on the other hand, significantly fewer, at ten percent, did not meet the minimum standard, the ministry said. The teaching restrictions during the corona pandemic played a certain role in the Vera study, said a ministry spokesman.

The results of the most recent survey confirm the results of the IQB Bildungstrends 2021 - a study that representatively examines the competencies of fourth graders every five years.

Department head Theresa Schopper (Greens) said that the current Vera results show once again that it is important and right to focus on reading, writing and arithmetic. "We want all children to be able to develop their potential, regardless of their background." According to the ministry, the performance differences in Vera 3 between children with German and another everyday language are still too great: There are significantly more pupils who do not meet the minimum standard among those who do not speak German in everyday life.

Information on the comparative work