Düsseldorf – October 29, 2026 -- Germany scores 5.1 out of 10 on the Educate to Empower Index, a measure of how well schools balance new technology with traditional learning tools, according to a study commissioned by Epson. The result reflects a gap between classroom hardware and its teaching value: 59% of surveyed teachers and 67% of school IT leaders say investment in digital devices and applications moved faster than schools could find sensible pedagogical uses for them.
Device spending outpaces classroom integration in German schools
In Germany, 83% of school IT leaders say their schools introduced more technology over the past year, against 67% across the six surveyed markets. The EU has invested more than 23 billion euros in education technology and digital skills. Epson's release notes that this spending has not always produced better learning outcomes, citing the latest OECD PISA results, which showed a marked global decline in mathematics and reading performance.
Of the teachers surveyed, 62% say investment focused on end-user devices rather than their didactic use. 69% of IT leaders agree. In addition, 63% of teachers say new technologies are adopted quickly but not sufficiently understood or used effectively by many staff.
Teachers score AI-versus-human balance lowest at 4.8 out of 10
The index averages three teacher ratings on a 1-to-10 scale:
- 5.3 for the balance between individual screens and paper; 56% say individual screen use is too high.
- 5.3 for the balance between individual and shared screens; 53% say there are too many individual screens.
- 4.8 for the balance between AI and human judgment, oversight and traditional methods; 65% say the emphasis on AI is too strong.
Teachers also rated whether schools have enough technology and training to achieve the best learning results at 4.9 out of 10. IT leaders gave 6.0.
Demand for rebalancing, not rollback, reaches 85% among IT leaders
Some education systems have chosen to scale back digital technology in schools. In Germany, 72% of teachers and 85% of IT leaders instead call for more balanced use. That means treating screens and materials such as paper and textbooks as equals, combining individual and collaborative learning, and pairing AI with human judgment. 86% of teachers say a better balance between technology and traditional teaching could improve student results.
Student demand is a driver. 86% of German students say they use digital devices and applications in nearly all areas of life, and 68% expect to use them in class. The average across the six countries is 58%.
Dr. Sarah Henkelmann-Hillebrand, head of education at Epson Europe, said education systems must stop simply rolling out technology and focus on how it is used. She called for learning goals to come first, clear frameworks for AI, and investment in tools that support effective teaching rather than more devices.
Focaldata surveyed 3,360 respondents across six European markets
Focaldata conducted the research for Epson in July and August 2026 in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Poland. It ran four separate online panel surveys: 1,227 teachers without IT responsibility, 1,219 students aged 16 to 18, 611 trainee or recently qualified teachers, and 303 school IT and technology decision-makers. Results reflect the natural distribution of respondents, and no weighting was applied.