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The CEO of BioNTech, when he was 10, wasn't considered good enough to attend a Gymnasium.

• hef19898 5y ago
  Coming from a family of turkish Gastarbeiters, I am not surprised. You still have that problem in Germany, and I think it only got worse during the pandemic. Edit: The Biontech founder comes from a turkish family, I don't. But I see that happening a lot, first during my school days. And now at my children's schools.
  • mmarq 5y ago
    Maybe it didn’t get worse, but it still demonstrate what’s the result and maybe the objective of these strict selection criteria: that discriminated minorities end up being excluded. Let it be children with foreign origin in Germany (which doesn’t stop after a generation) or whatever minority is being excluded from this very important American school. And given that people leave high school barely capable of reading newspaper articles (otherwise Breitbart or the Daily Mail would even be a thing), I don’t see what this selection is for.
    • throwaway210222 5y ago
      > that discriminated minorities end up being excluded. Let it be children with foreign origin in Germany (which doesn’t stop after a generation) Except of course for the founders of BoiNTech: Uğur Şahin, and Özlem Türeci. Included to the point they got German government-funded PhDs and then other native Germans helped co-found their company. Perhaps you hypothesis needs more data and less feelings?
      • mmarq 5y ago
        The CEO of BioNTech was told to attend a lower level school, which wouldn’t have allowed him to go to university. He claims that if it weren’t for a German neighbour he would not have gone to a gymnasium. This is a form of discrimination.
      • hef19898 5y ago
        Well, two people succeeding against all odds hardly qualify as data. Especially when every single PISA study tells you otherwise. Unless, of course, you buy into all that dishwasher to millionaire you can achieve anything if you want but don't expect a helping hand BS.