A fifth of fourth graders cannot read properly, a third cannot write according to the rules, and they also have problems with mathematics.

The results of the educational trends of the Institute for Quality Development in Education could hardly have been worse.

It could get even worse in autumn when the regional data is evaluated.

If 20 percent of children do not even reach the minimum standards in reading by the end of fourth grade, it basically means that they will not be able to attend secondary school, and learning in all other subjects will also be severely restricted.

Because the children can decipher letters, but not read the meaning, i.e. they read texts without understanding them in an overall context.

A disastrous result

This is a disastrous result that can by no means only be explained by the school closures caused by the pandemic.

The negative trend was already pronounced long before Corona.

Since 2011 there has only been one direction, especially when it comes to reading and listening: straight down.

This shows once again that the elementary school does not fulfill its task of imparting basic cultural skills.

The school closures in Germany, which have been far too long and particularly disadvantageous in primary schools, have exacerbated an unfavorable development, but they did not cause it.

The ministers of education nevertheless took advantage of the moment to pass the buck on to others.

Ultimately, the prime ministers are to blame for the school closures, which they enforced against the will of the education ministers.

The federal states, on the other hand, say they have long since recognized the problems and are taking countermeasures with programs such as “Reading/Math makes you strong”.

That is the knee-jerk reaction of ministers after each performance study.

The worse the results, the quicker the references to countermeasures that have been taken for a long time.

One waits in vain for a word of self-criticism, and even more so for the insight that the standards are set too low.

Instead, the calls for more federal money for the catch-up program for corona deficits are all the louder.

However, the effect of the program has not been proven at all, because every state is happy to accept federal money, but also uses it to finance private tutoring institutes and much more.

As a first quick countermeasure against learning deficits, this may still work.

But without an “ex-ante evaluation”, as educational researchers call it, the federal government must not invest any further funds in the catch-up program.

After all, the Standing Scientific Commission has just written in the stud book of the Ministers of Education that such prior reviews of effectiveness are quite possible and can also be had in a short time.

In times of ever-scarcer budgetary funds, we will have to think more carefully than before about what tax funds are used for.

It would be even more important that the education ministers finally take their responsibility for the quality of their schools seriously.

Why are there still so many countries that do not enforce compulsory language proficiency tests before starting school and compulsory support in the event of deficits?

Why is it still tolerated that individual teachers and schools, but also colleges of education and universities, teach according to the "reading through writing" method?

After all, writing by ear is on the index in most countries.

Actually, there is a broad consensus that rule-compliant writing should be taught from the first grade.

But the reality often looks different.

Dictations are rarely or never written, and only a small minority manage to read fluently and comprehensibly in fourth grade.

The elementary schools are the problem

There are many reasons for this: the high number of lateral entrants among the teachers, especially in the elementary schools in the city states.

The many math teachers without a math degree.

But all this has long been known.

For years, elementary schools have been the real problem for later performance deficits.

This is also due to the pre-school education, which is still not taken seriously in Germany and is rejected by some as downright tormenting children.

Kindergarten and day-care center are more care than preparation for learning at school.

Literacy in the first years of school does not succeed quickly and safely enough because children cannot hold a pen, use scissors or sit still in a chair.

It can't be that a fifth of the children drop out of the system at the end of the fourth grade because the school has failed.

The Minister of Education must change that, and quickly.

They are the political leaders.