21 March 2007

Berlin (dpa) - Children from poor families and immigrant backgrounds are disadvantaged by the German school system, a UN special envoy said Wednesday.

Vernor Munoz told told Germany's ARD television that handicapped children also suffered in an education system that failed to provide equal opportunities.

Munoz was due to present a report to the UN Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva later Wednesday on a recent inspection tour he made of German schools and kindergartens.

The envoy said his report would urge the government to study whether Germany's education system, which usually selects children at the age of 10 to go to one of three types of school, was at the root of the problem.

He dismissed claims that the report, details of which were leaked in advance, contained factual errors.

He said the leaks were from a preliminary report that was redrafted after taking into account issues raised by the German government.

Munoz's report came after Germany's schools performed badly in a major study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2000.

DPA

Subject: German news