Germany's education minister has described the country's poor results in the PISA school performance survey as "alarming."
"What we are seeing today is without any doubt an alarming finding," Karin Prien said on Tuesday, after the results of the international assessment were published.
The figures are in line with trends seen in other studies of Germany's education system and came as no surprise, Prien said. "It doesn't make it one bit better, but it is not surprising."
Prien identified several points as troubling. Competence is on the decline and the social divide is further widening, she said, calling the findings unacceptable.
The promise of social mobility is not being fulfilled in Germany, the minister said.
She also pointed to deterioration at both ends of the performance spectrum. "We are succeeding neither in the lower performance segment nor in the upper performance segment in doing justice to the potential of our pupils," Prien stated.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures the skills of 15-year-olds in reading, maths and science. It has been carried out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) every three years since 2000.
In reading, mathematics and science, last year's results show the lowest scores ever measured for Germany.