Thousands demonstrate in Germany for better education system

Thousands of people demonstrated across Germany for a change in education policy at a nationwide "Education Protest Day" on Saturday.

By the afternoon, more than 15,000 people had taken to the streets across Germany, according to the organizers.

In Berlin alone, 7,000 people came together and marched from the Brandenburg Gate to City Hall, they said. The police spoke of 4,500 participants in Berlin's central Mitte district. The demonstration was called by an alliance whose name translates as Education Turnaround Now, consisting of trade unions, educational associations and parents' and pupils' representatives.

In Munich, according to the organizers, about 2,000 people came to the rally, but there was initially no estimate by the police.

In the early afternoon, the police spoke of about 2,000 demonstrators in Cologne, while the organizers initially assumed more than 3,000 participants.

In Hamburg, according to police, 530 people demonstrated and marched from Jungfernstieg through the city centre to near Dammtor station.

The participants demonstrated for inclusive and sustainable schools and day-care centres. "Germany is facing one of the most serious educational crises since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany," the alliance's website states.

Hundreds of thousands of daycare places are missing nationwide. "The shortage of teachers and educators continues to grow and comes up against an outdated and underfunded education system that is socially unjust."

The alliance demands a special fund for education amounting to at least €100 billion ($107 billion) for investments in day-care centres and schools.

It also calls for a treaty that obliges all federal states to train enough teachers, as well as a plan to attract sufficient and well-qualified day-care professionals.