Choosing School Subjects Upon Arrival

As a parent myself, I can say: The German school system, which until recently was entirely presence-based (and unprepared for anything but - as homeschooling is illegal here!), is in a complete mess right now. Individual schools, in fact individual teachers at some schools only, try to offer distant learning activities in their subjects with a wide range of methods, others offer nothing (and are not obliged to, it seems). There is no central coordination, no strategy, no checks on learning results, not even whether all kids attend. My wife, who is an IT specialist, helps some less skilled and equipped parents from my daughter's class to access video lessons - the school only sends out URL invitations to them.
That means, if your son loses a few months of classes, he will just be in the same situation as many students here.
But that is probably not what you want to hear, or what you should do.
If you already know which German school he will attend, you could contact them and ask for their current activities and whether he can already attend - technically, it does not matter if he does so from next door or wherever you are now!
And if that is not an option: You did not mention his language skills, but if he is less than fluent in German, studying the language will help him most to settle in here after the crisis.
Some exercises to keep his grey matter from rusting are also good, but everything else will just have to wait until you move.

At 15 years old, why do you have to sort out his life?
He should be capable to make his own decisions!

I think a call to the respective schools is inevitable. But Beppi is right about the current situation and if your son just stays up to date and speaks the language, it will be alright. The majority of the pupils and students are still looking at an uncertain future. Some of my friends had to break off their internship and according to the law they are not allowed to graduate without having completed an internship.

elpatron29 wrote:

I think a call to the respective schools is inevitable. But Beppi is right about the current situation and if your son just stays up to date and speaks the language, it will be alright. The majority of the pupils and students are still looking at an uncertain future. Some of my friends had to break off their internship and according to the law they are not allowed to graduate without having completed an internship.

that is my situation to a tea! I am a student and it sucks right now! my internship was cancelled and practically no one is hiring.

Hi Beppi,

Thank you SO much for your reply. It is truly appreciated.

We contacted the school in Germany and a few universities in Germany to ask for advice this morning and basically where it stands now...

My son has decided to look at the field of law. Something he has been interested in for years so today we did a lot of research and we have established that he will do online homeschooling at the IEB level whilst we are still in South Africa, and then when we move to Germany, he will do an entrance test at the school and they will then say which Klasse he must go into.

We checked the subjects that he needs to do for law when studying in Germany so he will be doing those subjects on the online homeschooling system and then when he gets to Germany simply continue with those subjects. They are offered both in South Africa on the online homeschooling system, Brainline, as well as in Germany (obviously) so that was a HUGE relief. The only issue is that in South Africa he needs to continue Afrikaans, but when he gets to Germany he needs to do French as a 3rd language. But he will be starting French now, outside of the homeschooling system, so that he can simply continue it in Germany when we get there. He will then drop Afrikaans when we get to Germany.

The only issue is the German language which we also sourced a progamme where he can study the language now so that upon arrival in Germany he is at the required level he needs to be in order to attend German school.

So a lot was accomplished today! He is starting his online homeschooling on Monday next week and he has a tutor to assist him with it so that he gets proper education!

Whilst homeschooling is not allowed or done in Germany, it is the only option we have here until we get to Germany as all the schools are closed here and even so it would be stupid to enroll him into a school now again just for a few months until we move. So this way his education continues and he gets to do additional for the languages, so that he can be at the correct level in terms of the language requirements in Germany.

Even if homeschooling is not legal in Germany we have been told that it will all come down to entrance exams at his Gymansium when he arrives to simply determine the Klasse he will be in so it doesn't matter if he is homeschooling here as long as he is getting the education so that he is at the level he needs to be in Germany when we get there so that he does not fall behind.

The online homeschooling with Brainline IEB (which is offered in 30 countries worldwide) is sufficient for entry into the correct Klasse for his age in Germany, whenever he may start there. The only important issue is that he must know sufficient German upon arrival.

I wrote a lengthy reply to you in case other parents are in the same situation and they can then see what the situation is and what to do etc.

Once gain thank you for your response!

He is. He's just a bit overwhelmed due to the virus situation and the uncertainty surrounding it all but he is very set on his career path.