By Stefan Peter and Michael Sauerbier
Politicians haven’t done their homework: In a week, school will start again in Berlin, but there will be a shortage of around 1,500 teachers. Never that many before! Now the experts are arguing about how the problem can be solved.
Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (40, CDU) had already presented the horror numbers in mid-May: In the capital, at the start of the new school year, 1,460 full-time positions will not be filled – last year there were 875. The politician wants the current numbers present on Wednesday. One thing is already clear: it cannot go on like this!
“We finally have to train people to meet demand,” demands Franziska Brychcy (39, Left). There are currently only 900 student teachers. “We need at least 3,000,” said the deputy. In the short term, one could counteract this with lateral entrants, temporarily also with teachers from abroad who are only trained for one subject (in Germany there are always two).
“The shortage is indeed dramatic,” says Louis Krüger (27, Greens) to the BZ What he proposes: “The use of retired students and teachers and the simplification of the procedures for degrees obtained abroad.” Like Brychcy, Krüger is also for hiring so-called one-subject teachers.
The MEP calls for a debate on the timetable and better governance in recruitment. “So far I have not seen that the senator has the courage to take these measures,” said Krüger.
Brandenburg doesn’t have enough teachers either. The Minister of Education cannot fill all positions. The country would have to hire a good 1,800 new teachers – because many older teachers are retiring. But Minister of Education Steffen Freiberg (41, SPD) failed miserably with his tempting offer to continue working with fewer hours of instruction and the same salary. Only 189 reported.
State parent council head Ulrike Mauersberger: “The situation is very worrying, especially in elementary schools in rural areas.” Consequence: “At some elementary schools there were temporarily no more lessons due to a lack of teachers, only childcare.”
Brandenburg’s parents’ representative Ulrike Mauersberger: “The situation is very worrying” Photo: Facebook/Mauersberger
On Thursday, the minister wants to reveal how big the teacher gap in Brandenburg will be. Then there are the figures from the school authorities. Freiberg’s predecessor Britta Ernst (62, SPD) had recently tricked: A year ago, the chancellor’s wife boasted about 1,300 permanent new hires. She later had to admit that there were only 800. Ernst resigned in April.
Brandenburg is trying to raise salaries: Every elementary school teacher now earns as much as a teacher at a high school once did.
Neither Berlin nor Brandenburg have any hope of a quick solution to the problem. There is a shortage of teachers nationwide. In the next few years, more and more older teachers will retire, and fewer young people will follow. “Every fourth high school graduate would have to become a teacher,” says Minister of Education Freiberg, “so that there are no gaps.”