Germany’s students are not internationally competitive in mathematics. That could affect the ability to innovate, says Daniel Stelter.
(Photo: dpa)
German sociologist and publicist Gunnar Heinsohn died on February 16 at the age of 79. He is best known for his research on migration, integration and education.
In his last book, published in 2019, “Competition for the Smart. Competence, education and the welfare of nations”, he shows how important the demographic development and the political response to it are for the future of Germany and Western Europe. He sees the mathematics performance of students as an early indicator of innovative ability.
Based on the comparative school performance survey TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), which is carried out every four years, he calculates that in the EU only 988,000 students belong to the top performance group in mathematics, while in Japan, despite a population of just over a quarter as large 1.8 million.
After all, 32 percent of Japanese students reach this highest level. In Singapore it is even 50 percent, in Hong Kong 45 percent and in South Korea 41 percent. Germany only comes in at five percent, just ahead of Italy and France, but well behind England (17 percent) and Switzerland (25 percent).
This cannot be explained with the financial resources used. For example, Germany (EUR 10,622) spends around 20 percent more per primary school pupil than Singapore (EUR 8,730).
Countries like Hungary also have a significantly higher proportion of students in the top math group (13 percent), although Germany invests around 50 percent more per student, Heinsohn notes.
Daniel Stelter is the founder of the discussion forum “beyond the obvious”, which specializes in strategy and macroeconomics, as well as a management consultant and author. Every Sunday his podcast goes online at www.think-bto.com.
(Photo: Robert Recker/ Berlin)
For Heinsohn – and this is the politically difficult and controversial statement – these results have a lot to do with immigration policy – since the 1960s. Italy, Portugal and Turkey would not have sent their respective elites to German mines and steelworks.
Regardless of whether one agrees with this assessment or not, there is much to suggest that mathematical performance is an indicator of a society’s future ability to innovate.
According to the annual report of the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty), more than 50,000 inventions came from Japan in 2021, but only around 17,000 from Germany. For an equally good result in terms of patent applications per inhabitant, 33,000 would have been necessary, Heinsohn calculates.
In view of the demographic development, the competition for the clever will intensify. It is high time for Germany to accept the challenge: immigration must focus on the qualified.
The people living here need to be educated much better, with a focus on mathematics and natural sciences. Let’s start by realizing that we’re way behind.
Daniel Stelter is the founder of the discussion forum “beyond the obvious”, which specializes in strategy and macroeconomics, as well as a management consultant and author. Every Sunday his podcast goes online at www.think-bto.com.
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