85 percent of Germans dissatisfied with the education system, survey reveals – A staggering 85 percent of people are dissatisfied with schools and educational policy in Germany, according to a recent representative survey by the Forsa Institute. 85 percent of survey respondents said that they believed the German education system did not sufficiently equip children and young adults for leaving school.
Pupils’ delayed learning caused by school closures during the coronavirus pandemic was among the biggest concerns for respondents. Recent data from Destatis revealed that the number of children repeating an academic year increased by 67 percent between 2021 to 2022; the academic year 2021 / 22 saw 155.800 pupils retake a year. The survey results also come as Germany reckons with a debilitating teacher shortage, with between 32.000 and 40.000 posts unfilled.
German call for English to be second official language amid labour shortage – Politician from governing FDP says skilled foreign workers are being put off by unwieldy bureaucratic German.
“When it comes to ordinances and laws, the official language in this country applies for reasons of legal certainty, and that is German,” a spokesperson for the Civil Servants’ Association said.
Like the cold of winter? Unaffordable energy bills? Renewable energy pipe dreams that will never succeed? You know. Stuff like that? That’s why.
Why can’t Germany break up with nuclear energy? – Germany has spent 25 years flipflopping on nuclear power. An energy crunch caused by the war in Ukraine is the latest reason to reconsider the technology.
“Really, I think of myself as against nuclear energy, but I have to admit that you see the situation a bit differently now.”
What do they mean by repeating an election? I thought that once you get the results you want it’s a done deal. Repeating an election due to election day glitches simply isn’t possible. Not in my country it isn’t.
Judge: Berlin will likely need to repeat its 2021 election – The president of the Berlin Constitutional Court says Germany’s capital will likely need to repeat its 2021 state and district elections due to severe election day glitches.
Long lines formed outside many polling stations in Berlin that day as voters struggled with extra ballot papers. Some polling stations ran out of ballot papers during the day and others received ones for the wrong district, leading to a large number of invalidated ballots. Another issue was the election was supposed to end at 6 p.m., but voters waiting in line at that time were allowed to cast their ballots.
Which is a pretty hard thing to be. Unless you live in Germany. It goes like this: Turn off your nuclear energy plants and never mention that ugly n-word again (think Voldemort). Demand all coal-burning power plants be shut down ASAP too. Actually BELIEVE (not think, just believing is enough) that wind turbines and solor panels can actually power a country like Germany. While doing that, let yourself become 50% energy dependent on Russian gas and oil despite repeated warnings from your European neighbors and that awful evil US-Amerika that’s always saying mean things (or at least it used to). Then something like Ukraine comes along, get it? What’s not to like? We’re here from the German Green government and we’re here to help. We created the problem in the first place but now we’re the ones who are going to fix it. You can thank us later, voters. They’ll get re-elected, of course. You can’t make this stuff up, people. And even if you could no one would believe you.
Germany to Bring Back Old Coal Plants as Russia Cuts Gas Supply – Government to offer financing to ensure storage is increased.
Country to rely more on coal-fired power plants, minister says.
And thus threatening to observe far-off galaxies and supermassive black holes without Germany’s expressed written permission. This clearly goes beyond the scope of the telescope’s mission. Somebody make them stop or something.
Russia Trying to Hijack German Telescope – After being banned from involvement in a cooperative X-ray telescope project with Germany in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is now seeking to operate the telescope without Germany’s input.
“Despite Germany’s demand to shut down one of the two telescopes at Spektr-RG, Russian specialists insist on continuing its work.”
What a steal. From the taxpayers, as usual. But still.
Germany offers €9-a-month public transport ticket – Cut-price deal allows nationwide travel as Berlin acts to soften the impact of rising inflation and expensive fuel.
The €9 ticket opens up the entirety of Germany to many who couldn’t otherwise afford it. It’s now so easy to scramble up the Harz mountains, stroll through “Frau Holle Land” and drink a few beers on the Ruhr. You could even reenact Inglourius Basterds in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains or find out why Tom Hanks fell in love with Eisenhüttenstadt for yourself.
Two German states ban Russian ‘Z’ symbol – The ‘Z’ symbol used by Russia in the war against Ukraine is banned by two of Germany’s federal states, and more could soon follow as calls to extend the ban to other regions pile up.
Bavaria and Lower Saxony, two of the most populated German regions, have outlawed the public use of the Russian symbol. Anyone showing the symbol publicly or at demonstrations can now face up to three years in prison or a fine.
The old days. When Germany could elegantly or less elegantly wiggle out of paying for its own defense (spending 2% GDP for defense like it had promised to pay many, many years ago).
Suddenly, inexplicably, now it’s possible after all. Mysterious, don’t you think? We need to find some experts to explain to us just how this change of heart was made possible.
Putin Accidentally Started a Revolution in Germany – The invasion of Ukraine is triggering a dramatic reversal of Berlin’s grand strategy.
In seven days, Germany has axed its biggest Russian energy project, imposed sanctions that will cause significant pain at home, and instituted a course that will make Germany the largest European defense spender, with the most advanced aircraft and a growing forward presence in Central and Eastern Europe. One can wonder whether Germany’s dedicated detractors in Washington will notice. How did it happen so quickly, when German officials had so tenaciously defended their status quo policies for so long?
They have enough state broadcasting to do on their own as it is, thank you.
The Russian state broadcasters will retaliate by taking the German state broadcaster off the air, of course. Oh why oh why can’t we learn to state broadcast together in peace?
Russia to target German media in response to German ban on RT TV – Russia will retaliate against Germany for banning the German-language service of Russian broadcaster RT, and the response will impact German media accredited in Russia and internet “intermediaries”, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Observing Hermann 