[ohthehugemanate]

They're talking about the division between Gymnasium, Realschule, and Hauptschule. It's actually state to state nowadays whether they have separate schools or Gesamtschulen, but I understand even in Gesamtschulen, in many Bundesländer there's some internal separation.

Where are you in DE, that this is unknown to you? In Köln just 15 years ago I knew parents who had the horror scenario: a 4th grade teacher who quietly believed that girls shouldn't go to university. They switched their daughter schools that year.

[notTooFarGone]

this is very reductive and really hyperbolic. Also hauptschule does not exist in most states anymore.

I also know enough people who did perfectly fine via Realschule to academics. Of course it's a decision with pretty much a single point of failure which is suboptimal, but don't act like it's predetermining your whole carrer.