Germany Lags Behind Other European Countries

Even as politicians fail to resolve the problem, a look at other European nations shows that Germany is already a laggard in the field -- a fact that explains its disastrous performance on the PISA test.

Children at "nursery schools" in Britain and "ecoles maternelles" in France are already groomed playfully in dealing with numbers and the alphabet, while Belgium, Italy and Holland have clearly defined what children should be able to do at the end of their pre-school period -- count and even read.

Even in Hungary and Norway, the curriculum for kindergartens invites children and parents to choose between specializing in different topics, with the emphasis being on music, playing instruments and reading notes.