According to a Sputnik.Polls survey, the majority of people in Italy (64 percent), France (63 percent) and Germany (54 percent) are displeased with their primary and secondary education systems. Only 28 percent of people in France, 31 percent in Italy, and 41 percent in Germany are pleased with the education system in their countries. Those who could not answer the question amounted to nine per cent in France and five per cent in Italy and Germany. The poll was conducted by Ifop for Sputnik News Agency and Radio.

In Italy, the share of those who are dissatisfied with the system of primary and secondary education is large, both among people aged 18 to 34 (62 percent versus 33 percent) and over 35 ‒ 65 percent versus 30 per cent. In both age groups, five per cent did not express their opinion on the issue.

In France, the difference between the two age groups was also substantial. In the first group, the share of people who were unhappy with the education system was 53 per cent while 37 per cent of respondents said they were pleased with it. Ten per cent of those surveyed did not know how to answer the question. Among the over 35s, the rate of displeasure was even higher – 66 per cent versus 25 per cent. Nine per cent did not have an answer to this question.

In Germany, there is a fairly large difference in the responses from women and men. Some 57 per cent of women are displeased with the system of primary and secondary education, 38 percent are pleased with it, and five percent did not have an opinion about it. The corresponding figures for men were 50 percent, 45 percent, and five percent. Half of respondents (50 percent) younger than 35 are happy with the education system while 47 per cent are displeased with it; and a mere three percent could not answer the question. Respondents over 35 years old were more critical of the system of education ‒ 56 per cent versus 38 percent ‒ and six per cent had no answer.

About 51 percent of people in western Germany were dissatisfied with the system of primary and secondary education, 44 percent were pleased with it, and five percent had no answer. In eastern Germany the figures were 61 percent and 33 per cent, respectively, and six per cent did not express their opinion on this issue. The share of respondents displeased with the system of education was the largest in Berlin – 74 per cent and 24 per cent ‒ with two per cent not providing an opinion.

The poll was conducted by Ifop, France's oldest opinion and market research company, from June 28 to July 4 2016. In total, 3,006 respondents older than 18 took part in the poll: a thousand in Germany, 1,004 in France and 1,002 in Italy. The sample was representative in terms of gender, age, and location. The margin of error is 3.1per cent by country, with a 95 per cent confidence interval.

About the Sputnik.Polls Project

The international public opinion project was created in January 2015, in partnership with leading research companies such as Populus, IFOP, and forsa. The project organizes regular surveys in the United States and Europe on the most sensitive social and political issues.