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EDUCATION

Who’s studying the most (and least) in Germany?

The average German student works 32.5 hours a week, according to research published on Tuesday, but there are big differences between different subjects. Which students study the most and least?

Who's studying the most (and least) in Germany?
Students in technical subjects worked many more hours a week. Photo: Shutterstock

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Researchers at the University of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg asked 5,000 students about their work habits in the most recent edition of their student survey, which has been running since 1982.

The averages between technical colleges and academic universities were around the same, at 31.6 and 30.6 hours respectively, but students in certain subjects had a much bigger workload.

Future electrical engineers, for example, worked more than 41 hours each week – around a third more than their peers.

But even they were outstripped by those studying veterinary medicine, who put in almost 45 hours.

The veterinarians were closely followed by aspiring dentists at 42.5 hours and pharmacists at 39.5.

They were likely among the fifth of students at universities and quarter at technical colleges who wanted more time to complete their degrees.

“It's difficult to get additional qualifications in these subjects that involve a lot of time pressure,” the researchers wrote.

Meanwhile, sociology students came bottom, reporting doing just 22.6 hours of work in the average week.

They were joined at the bottom of the table by art historians and psychology students, both at 25.2 hours weekly.

SEE ALSO: Eight best subjects to study in Germany

Social attitudes

Beyond their hours worked, the researchers also asked about students' social attitudes and plans for the future.

They found that just 24 percent of respondents thought that politics and public life were “very important”, compared with 29 percent who thought they were “unimportant”.

Meanwhile, a huge majority of academic undergraduates, ranging from 75 percent in the arts and social sciences to 91 percent in engineering, were already planning on taking master's degrees.

That represents a big difference from the assumptions that politicians had made about how many people would take postgraduate courses and will have a significant impact on the education budget.

Students' appetite for postgraduate degrees might be in part because so many (41 percent) wanted their courses to be more grounded in practice over theory, or wanted to study in smaller groups (29 percent).

SEE ALSO: Germany ranks third in world university list

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EDUCATION

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

Children between ages 6-9 years should be allowed admittance to after-school recreation centers free of charge, according to a report submitted to Sweden’s Minister of Education Lotta Edholm (L).

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

“If this reform is implemented, after-school recreation centers will be accessible to the children who may have the greatest need for the activities,” said Kerstin Andersson, who was appointed to lead a government inquiry into expanding access to after-school recreation by the former Social Democrat government. 

More than half a million primary- and middle-school-aged children spend a large part of their school days and holidays in after-school centres.

But the right to after-school care is not freely available to all children. In most municipalities, it is conditional on the parent’s occupational status of working or studying. Thus, attendance varies and is significantly lower in areas where unemployment is high and family finances weak.

In this context, the previous government formally began to inquire into expanding rights to leisure. The report was recently handed over to Sweden’s education minister, Lotta Edholm, on Monday.

Andersson proposed that after-school activities should be made available free of charge to all children between the ages of six and nine in the same way that preschool has been for children between the ages of three and five. This would mean that children whose parents are unemployed, on parental leave or long-term sick leave will no longer be excluded. 

“The biggest benefit is that after-school recreation centres will be made available to all children,” Andersson said. “Today, participation is highest in areas with very good conditions, while it is lower in sparsely populated areas and in areas with socio-economic challenges.” 

Enforcing this proposal could cause a need for about 10,200 more places in after-school centre, would cost the state just over half a billion kronor a year, and would require more adults to work in after-school centres. 

Andersson recommends recruiting staff more broadly, and not insisting that so many staff are specialised after-school activities teachers, or fritidspedagod

“The Education Act states that qualified teachers are responsible for teaching, but that other staff may participate,” Andersson said. “This is sometimes interpreted as meaning that other staff may be used, but preferably not’. We propose that recognition be given to so-called ‘other staff’, and that they should be given a clear role in the work.”

She suggested that people who have studied in the “children’s teaching and recreational programmes” at gymnasium level,  people who have studied recreational training, and social educators might be used. 

“People trained to work with children can contribute with many different skills. Right now, it might be an uncertain work situation for many who work for a few months while the employer is looking for qualified teachers”, Andersson said. 

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