"Maybe we sort too soon."

In the Potterverse, the future life of a child is determined when they are eleven without any possibility of changing that later on by sorting the child into one of the four houses, influencing how it is going to be perceived later in life, as it says a lot on their character, influencing also its peer group. In Germany, the same happens at the same age, and possibly even earlier. In the Potterverse, a magical hat determines where you are to be sent, and the decision is based on your character. The system is infinitely better than the system currently employed by the German education system.

The decision, which is allegedly based on the competences of the child, is very much influenced by factors like the milieu the parents are from, by nationality and ethnicity, by economical factors. Of course there are many people who are sorted according to their competences, but there are clear tendencies that show that the people who end up in the school they do end up in because of other factors.

( Pre-school education is the first language instruction children receive, but not all children do, as there are not enough places, and not all parents have their children attend pre-school offers. Only 80% of the children with a migrational background attend pre-school offers. )

( Children who do not have a learning disability can be put in primary school. If they don’t meet the standards, they have to repeat the year, which does not have any positive effects whatsoever. The majority of children who repeat a year in primary school end up repeating another year later on, as well, and many who do only have to because of difficulties with German. )

( After the primary school, abled children are recommended to one of the three schools – Hauptschule (low standard and prestige), Realschule (better standard and slightly better prestige), or Gymnasium (today’s norm and only degree which allows students to enter higher education), often dependant on background, mother tongue and parents’ income more than the student’s proficiency and determining the future career of the child – only low income jobs are possible with a Hauptschulabschluss for the vast majority- for life, at eleven. )

( Changing between the school forms is possible, but no one ever does.  )

( There are schools today which offer both an Abitur and a Realschulabschluss at the same school, these might be better.  )

( Förderschulen and Sonderschulen and their students are the losers of our educational system – they are completely forgotten in discussions on the matter. Integrational forms in regular schools are a new, but decreasing additional possiblity for students whose disability is not too impairing. )

( Dealing with the root of many of the student’s problems, learning German, our government does not consider it’s problems and accordingly scarce are resources and finances for establishing offers. )

Our politicians should definitely think about the magic-hat system. It's fairer, and it's at least  based on the child's character.