Die Story im Ersten
School Dropouts - Already Left Behind in Primary School?
2025 • E12 Jun 11, 2025 45m
In 2023, a headline made news: 37 first-graders at Gräfenau Primary School in Ludwigshafen had to repeat the year - nearly one in three children. What seems like an isolated case is part of an alarming trend: fewer and fewer children master the basic skills needed to succeed in first grade. Some struggle with language, others cannot even hold a pencil.
More than 25 years after the PISA shock, the importance of early childhood education is well known. This documentary follows a first-grade class exclusively over the course of a school year. It shows children struggling with language difficulties, teachers and educators reaching the limits of the system, and support programs repeatedly failing.
The film also asks what is needed to improve the transition between kindergarten and school, and searches for solutions to prevent children from being left behind already in primary school.
More than 25 years after the PISA shock, the importance of early childhood education is well known. This documentary follows a first-grade class exclusively over the course of a school year. It shows children struggling with language difficulties, teachers and educators reaching the limits of the system, and support programs repeatedly failing.
The film also asks what is needed to improve the transition between kindergarten and school, and searches for solutions to prevent children from being left behind already in primary school.