Number of pupils in German schools down to 11 mln: Destatis

BERLIN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of pupils attending German schools decreased by 0.5 percent to almost 11 million in the current 2018-2019 school year, preliminary figures released by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed on Tuesday.

According to Destatis, the decline is "almost parallel to the demographic trend."

The statisticians said that even in a high immigration scenario, only 73.1 million people will live in Germany in 2060, and only 16 percent of them will be younger than 20 years of age.

The decline in student numbers in German schools providing vocational education was particularly large - 1.4 percent - compared to schools providing general education, where it was only 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, schools providing health service education (nurses, midwives, therapists) recorded a 1.4 percent increase in student numbers.

In the current school year, the number of pupils in Germany who do not hold German citizenship has increased by 3 percent to 1.2 million, representing 11.2 percent of the total number of pupils in Germany.

While more international pupils without a German passport went to German schools providing general education, the number of international students in German vocational schools has decreased.

For both genders, the decline in the number of pupils receiving education in German schools is almost equal. There were 0.6 percent fewer male pupils and 0.4 percent fewer female pupils in the current school year.