Every Student at This School Leaves With a Qualification

Ten years of school — and still no prospects: The number of young people in Berlin leaving school without a qualification is rising. According to the education administration, around 2,800 students left school without a qualification in the last school year, representing 8.7 percent. The year before, the figure was 8.5 percent.

What is particularly striking about the latest figures is the variation between districts. The highest shares of school leavers without a basic school-leaving certificate were in Mitte (13.2 percent), Spandau (12.9 percent) and Neukölln (12 percent). The lowest shares were recorded in Steglitz-Zehlendorf (3.3 percent), Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (4.2 percent) and Pankow (5.2 percent).

Umut, 15, is from Mitte, the district with the highest number of school dropouts in Berlin. For years, his primary school teachers also seemed to regard him as more or less a hopeless case. “They always made me feel that I wouldn’t make it anyway. They also didn’t care whether I participated in class or not,” he says. “As a result, my performance and motivation were poor.”

Wahlserie Bildung: Quinoa Schule — Umut (center) with his classmates Wael and Zahraa sitting together in the courtyard. The outdoor furniture was built by the students themselves as part of the Bauhütte project. © FUNKE Foto Services | Florian Boillot

When it was time to move on to secondary school, a family friend suggested taking a look at the Quinoa School in Gesundbrunnen. The small private school has two classes in each year group and 180 students in grades seven to ten. It employs 49 staff members, including 26 teachers.

A private school — that may bring to mind well-off parents who can afford high tuition fees for their children‘s education. But the Quinoa School is not that kind of institution. Located in the heart of Gesundbrunnen, it primarily serves students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Many come from families with low levels of formal education; around 94 percent have a migrant background, and 80 percent receive social benefits. “Our student body simply reflects the neighborhood,” says Pantelis Pavlakidis, who has headed the school since 2018. “Only 13 families are able to pay the average tuition fee of 89 euros; everyone else is exempt.”

As a state-recognized alternative school, the Quinoa School — like other independent schools — receives funding from the State of Berlin equivalent to 93 percent of the personnel costs incurred by comparable public schools. No funding is provided for other expenses such as rent or maintenance. “Of course, that is nowhere near enough,” says Hendrikje Lorenz, Managing Director of Quinoa Bildung gGmbH.

“Nevertheless, we consider higher tuition fees to be unfair. We are financed mainly through donations and other public funding. The advantage is that we can decide for ourselves how the money is spent.”

Students Feel Genuinely Cared For

The school‘s concept sounds strikingly simple: individual and language support, strong relationships, and close cooperation with families. Every student is assigned their own tutor, who serves as a contact person for both school-related and family problems. “We take a child-centered approach, and our care is genuine — the students feel that,” says Pavlakidis. “We are interested in every single one of them.”

That does not mean, however, that students are not expected to work hard. “We teach regular lessons, and students do get failing grades,” says the principal. “But we don‘t just leave it at that. Together with the students, we think about how the gaps can be closed.” One way of doing this is through support groups, known at the Quinoa School as “Boosters,” which are very popular with the students. “They have a positive image,” says Pavlakidis.

The school’s success supports its educational approach. For the past three years, every student leaving the Quinoa School has obtained a qualification. Around half of them even achieve the MSA-GO, which allows them to attend upper secondary school and work toward the Abitur.

“About half of them go on to complete the Abitur as well,” says Pavlakidis. “Our goal is for all young people, regardless of their social or cultural background, to have the opportunity to obtain a school qualification and continue their education.” This has not gone unnoticed in Wedding. Every year, around 200 students apply for a place at the school, and only 50 are accepted.

“The grades students receive in primary school do not matter to us. We make sure that the composition fits; we want good dynamics in the classes,” says Pavlakidis.

Umut was lucky. He got a place and successfully completed the probationary semester. He is now in eighth grade. “I felt comfortable from the very first day,” he says. “The teachers here are like friends. I trust them, even if they are sometimes strict in class.” His former primary school classmates, who now attend grammar schools and other secondary schools in Mitte, tell him “catastrophic stories,” as he puts it. “They talk a lot about violence and drug problems. They say nobody really cares.” He can well imagine that some of his friends will therefore not manage to graduate.

An Extra Year of School for Young People Without a Clear Next Step

The education administration also wants to improve the prospects of these young people. With the new School Act, the Senate has introduced what is known as an 11th compulsory school year. Since last year, students under the age of 18 who still have no clear plan for what comes next despite receiving counseling in tenth grade have been required to attend for an additional year. The program is not intended to lead to a qualification. Instead, the sole focus is on career guidance and developing key vocational skills. It includes practice-oriented lessons, individual support, internships, project work and practical learning situations.

Last year, a total of 900 places were created for these young people at 15 upper secondary vocational schools (“anchor schools”), meaning 60 places at each school. However, only around 436 students took up their places at the anchor schools. Despite intensive efforts by the schools, including contact by telephone or mail and outreach social work, 210 young people did not take up the places assigned to them.

The figures come from a parliamentary inquiry by MP Franziska Brychcy (The Left). Still, according to a May 2026 internal survey of the anchor schools, 89 students from the first cohort of the 11th compulsory school year had already secured apprenticeship contracts.