The number of children from immigrant backgrounds taking Germany’s university entrance exams has doubled in just five years. According to the federal government’s Commission for Immigration, Refugees, and Integration, 17 percent of children from immigrant backgrounds completed the Abitur exam, taken by 17 and 18 year olds, last year, compared with nine percent in 2010, the Independent has reported. During the same period, the percentage of children from immigrant backgrounds obtaining a final school qualification also rose slightly, from 38 percent to 43 percent. “In terms of participation and integration we’re on the right path in Germany,” said commission chair Aydan Özoguz MP. Children with immigrant backgrounds are much more likely to go to kindergarten, more teenagers are getting higher school qualifications in comparison with five years ago, employment among immigrants is up.” Approximately 21 percent of Germany’s population – some 17.2 million people – come from a migrant background. One in three under 18 year olds in Germany have foreign roots, and the number jumps to 36 per cent in the under five age group. That includes the staggering 1.8 million people who have come to Germany in the last two years alone, the vast majority of whom arrived when