“BILD am Sonntag” just published a “study” of TNS Infratest, with the headline:
Jeder zweite Lehrling versagt am Computer
(translated: Every second apprentice fails on [using] computers)
I answered that article on LXer Linux News. The link will follow as soon as my article is through the pending queue. See more infos about OpenDocument vs. OpenXML on the Free Software Magazine.
Update: Ok; pushed it through. As an editor of LXer Linux News, I can do that 
And here’s the link to my Editorial.
Understood and (partly) supported.
However, formats are IMHO not the problem. The kids do not know spreadsheet programs or text management, whether one calls it Word, Excel or OpenOffice does not really make a difference.
Furthermore MS software has got a more than fair share in today’s business world, like it or not…
And, while stating the kids were not that stupid and the school system not that bad - a lot of the secondary school graduates (_and_ high school graduates as well) in Germany lack basic skills in German (!) writing/reading as well as maths.
ODF won’t compensate that.