A German teachers’ union on Monday called for school classes to contain a proportion of immigrants no higher than 35 per cent.

The union said that classes with a greater proportion would lead to integration problems and a drop-off in performance.

The German Philological Association warned that there would be a “ghettoisation of the school system”.

It welcomed comments by Education Minister Johanna Wanka to Focus magazine that “the proportion of children with and without an immigrant background needs to be balanced out.”

The association’s head Heinz-Peter Meidinger said that Wanka and Culture Minister Monika Gruetters should consider using an incentive system for schools and educational authorities to find solutions to the issue.

Meidinger said that the problem must be handled sensibly and not abused for political purposes.

Wanka told Focus that there should be no classes in which a high proportion of immigrants lead to students speaking to each other mainly in their native language.

(dpa/NAN)