Life in Germany
Student Life: Germany vs Pakistan
I’m a Pakistani who migrated to Germany for higher education, and my journey revealed intriguing differences in educational cultures. Join me as I shed light on these disparities.
German vs Pakistani Educational Contrasts
Education system in Germany is flexible — In Germany, educational flexibility reigns supreme. Universities empower students to structure their degrees, allowing for subject selection based on personal interest. Conversely, Pakistani universities offer predetermined courses, limiting individual choice.
Moreover, the rigidity of completion timelines differs significantly. While Pakistani degrees mandate completion within specific periods, Germany allows greater flexibility, enabling students to balance work and education.
Working Students’ Dynamics —Germany supports students working part-time, earn money & compensate their expenses.
However, job opportunities in Pakistan during studies are scarce due to demanding university schedules.
For instance, during my university days, I started my day as early as 6 am and remain on campus until 2 pm or 4 pm. The extended hours took a toll, leaving me feeling drained. Consequently, maintaining productivity after such exhaustive days became a considerable challenge for me.
Companies value working students — Working students are valuable resources and add the same value as a full-time employee.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Pakistan. Students doing internships barely gain good experience. In my opinion, companies don’t utilize their full potential. At least, that’s how it was when I was a student.
Please correct me if I am wrong in the comment’s section by share your experience. I would be glad if you prove me wrong :).
Cultural Perspectives on Marriage and Responsibility — We do have a social pressure of getting married earlier and be responsible to run a whole family. Usually, a single person is responsible to run the whole family, including parents.
German culture is different. Each person is responsible for compensating their own expense. This way they can continue education while being in a relationship.
I am not promoting German culture in any ways, neither discouraging our cultural values. The point I am after for is that this aspect also affects our mindset toward education.
We try to complete education faster, so that we can start a full-time job and earn good salary to support our family.
Key Learnings from the Contrast
The social and educational flexibility allow Germans investing time in education without being stressed out. Furthermore, they plan their degree based on their interest and dive deep into courses they enrolled.
I believe investing quality time not only enables them to have good theoretical as well as practical knowledge.
My colleagues are smarter & competent, and the most important thing I learned from them is questioning.
- If something is unclear, ask questions. Don’t hesitate or shy. No question is stupid.
- If you’re reading a code, does it make sense to you? No, discuss it, simplify it.
- If you’re investigating a bug ticket and observing certain behaviour, does it have any correlation? Are you able to digest this correlation?
It’s rightly said:
If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.
I think I was in a room where people were smarter and competent. Because of them, I was able to change my thought process and way of looking at things — And I am very thankful for it.
Thanks for reading.
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