At a time when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and partner countries are trying to figure out how to reduce burgeoning debt and make the most of shrinking public budgets, spending on education is an obvious target for scrutiny. Education officials, teachers, policy makers, parents and students struggle to determine…

This article presents an overview of teaching subjects and time allocation in the German school system, with a particular focus on Berlin. An analysis of existing documents and guidelines will be combined with interviews conducted in the last part of 2002 with the Berlin school administration and with headmasters and teachers at different schools.…