In Bavaria, native German speakers are now in the minority in almost one in five regular school classes, according to figures released by the Bavarian Ministry of Education in response to a parliamentary inquiry from AfD lawmaker Markus Walbrunn.

The ministry said 10,555 regular classes last school year mostly comprised students whose mother tongue is not German, and 257 regular classes had no native German speakers at all.

The data covers the 2024/25 academic year. It said students without a migration background were a minority in 11,110 regular classes, equal to 18.5 percent of all classes. In 320 regular classes, every student had a migration background.

Walbrunn, as cited by Nius, called the data a “wake-up call for Bavaria,” arguing that pupils who do not speak German at home “will not only find it harder to follow the lessons themselves, but ultimately also jeopardize the educational success of their classmates due to the additional attention they require from teachers.”

He accused the state government led by CSU Minister-President Markus Söder of boasting “with empty promises of integration,” adding, “our children are becoming a minority in their own classrooms.”

In total, 13,290 classes have a majority of children with a migration background, 11,110 of them regular classes. Some 12,639 classes consist mostly of students with a non-German mother tongue, including 10,555 regular classes. In 1,064 classes — 920 of them regular — German native speakers account for exactly half. At the school level, six general education schools reported that all students have a migration background, and two schools reported no students with German as a mother tongue.

A majority of students have a migration background at 852 schools statewide, 810 of them regular schools; 807 schools are predominantly attended by students whose mother tongue is not German, including 772 regular schools.

The Bavarian Ministry of Education said “cultural diversity in the school context” is “everyday life, a challenge, and an opportunity for learners and teachers.” It said Bavaria focuses on “diverse educational opportunities tailored to children’s abilities and talents, thus promoting integration rather than segregation,” and noted that schools with a high share of children with insufficient German are “supported with various funding programs and resources.”

The debate is not confined to Bavaria. Federal Education Minister Karin Prien signaled openness this summer to exploring limits on the concentration of students with a migration background in individual classes, saying, “I think it always makes sense to look at the experiences of other countries to see whether it ends up being 30 percent or 40 percent.”

Bavaria’s overall migrant share, around 27 percent, is lower than in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, and Bremen, where shares range roughly from the low thirties to above 40 percent.

AfD co-chair Alice Weidel, reacting to a separate report on school disorder, said last week, “Our children are paying the price for the establishment’s complete failure of migration policy!”

Hilferuf einer Ludwigshafener Realschule mit über 90% Migrationsanteil: Täglich Gewalt, Drohungen, permanente Polizeieinsätze. Lehrer, die um ihr Leben fürchten. Unsere Kinder zahlen den Preis für das migrationspolitische Totalversagen der Etablierten! ! https://t.co/B1uyp7tJtl

— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) November 7, 2025

Concerns about classroom safety and language proficiency have been amplified by recent high-profile incidents reported elsewhere in Germany. In Ludwigshafen, teachers at the Karolina-Burger-Realschule Plus wrote a 10-page letter to authorities describing violence, threats, and severe disciplinary problems. “Ms. XY, aren’t you afraid that someone will stab you from behind when you stand with your back to the class?” one passage read, while another student allegedly shouted, “I’ll shoot you all.”

Police recorded 121 incidents at the school between 2022 and 2024, 118 of which resulted in criminal complaints, according to local reporting.

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In May, a 16-year-old student threatened a teacher with a knife, for which he will face detention proceedings for attempted manslaughter next month, according to Welt.

The school in question, which has reported on average one case a week for the past three years of sexualized insults against female teachers, has a migration background of over 90 percent.

Other cases have sparked broader debate about integration, language, and school climate. In Berlin, a primary school teacher said he endured months of abuse, including “Gay is disgusting,” and reported that some Muslim students told him he was a “disgrace to the family” who would “end up in hell,” with one student declaring, “Islam is in charge here.”

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In another Berlin case, the parents of a 10-year-old girl named Emilia said their daughter suffered repeated assaults and threats on school grounds and has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. “Someone gets beaten up every break,” Emilia told Bild.

The family said that during a mediation attempt with another student’s parents, “(the boy’s) sister, who attends the neighboring high school, had to translate because the parents hardly speak any German.”

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School leaders warn that some children arrive without the German required for learning the curriculum, undermining the idea that language can simply be “absorbed” in the playground.

“No child here is swimming in German waters, they remain in their Arab, Turkish, Afghan pools,” one principal was quoted as saying, adding that some students develop a basic slang of “50–100 words” that is insufficient for academic work.