On 12. September school starts again in bavaria. Bavaria’s ministry of education paints a positive picture of the coming school year – but teachers don’t trust it. "Everything will be ready in time for the first day of school. Everything will be done", simone fleischmann, president of the bavarian teachers’ association (BLLV), told the german press agency in munich. "But we will still be overrun after a few months and will be back where we were so many times before."
Then again numerous teachers were missing. For around 1.7 million schoolchildren and more than 100,000 teachers in bavaria, the school year begins on 12 december. September again the lessons.
Gaps during the school year
If bavaria goes full throttle with digitization in schools, the head of the association said, then teachers will have to go to further training – and will be absent from lessons. In addition, there are shortages due to staff retiring during the school year, waves of illness and pregnancies. "Bavaria should maintain an oversupply", fleischmann therefore demanded. The state should therefore significantly increase the mobile reserve so that schools have more teachers available in emergency situations than in previous years.
Fleischmann wants to break down the prejudices against mobile teachers. "A teacher who is at a school as a reserve does not pick his or her nose", she said. He could maintain the standard in case of emergency, and otherwise be there for smaller groups or individual schools.
Ministry of education wipes away concerns
The ministry of education, on the other hand, is convinced that there are enough teachers. "Teaching is guaranteed for the new school year", according to ludwig spaenle (CSU). One teacher for every 13.8 students, as before. Bavaria has hired more than 4,000 new teachers for the new school year – but most of them to replace colleagues who are leaving the state. The state will provide 100 more teachers for inclusion, i.E. The integration of handicapped students into the classroom.
The BLLV and the education and science union (GEW) are not entirely satisfied. "New positions are of no use for the time being, BLLV head fleischmann said. There are not enough teachers who can take on these positions, both for the education of immigrants and for inclusion.
Last week, even minister president horst seehofer said this. Minister of education spaenle had reported to him "that we are at the edge with the integration of migrant children". "Because in some cases we no longer have the teachers we need, seehofer said at an election campaign appearance in munich.
GEW: "a drop in the bucket"
The GEW in bavaria, which also expects an acute shortage of teachers in the coming school year, considers the 100 additional teachers to expand inclusion a "drop in the bucket". In order to solve the shortage of teachers – and their simultaneous unemployment – the union is calling for a reform of training in the direction of graduated teachers who can be flexibly deployed in several types of schools. The study should not be based on the type of school, but on the age of the students.
This school year, the problem behind this demand will hit home, according to the chairman of the school committee, martin gull (SPD). "Never before have there been so many teachers who will teach in non-educational types of schools.", he said. "And never before have staffing levels been so low, especially in compulsory schools such as elementary, middle and vocational schools, so that by late fall we will have unprecedented shortages of teaching staff." The CSU’s education policy has failed.
The ministry of education is even provoking a further deterioration in the supply of teachers and instruction in the state with false school forecasts, gull criticized even before the vacations. Contrary to the ministry’s predictions, a study by the bertelsmann foundation predicts a school boom.
According to this estimate, four percent more children and young people will be attending school in 2025 than today. In 2030, the figure will be as high as eight percent. As a result, cancelled classes are the order of the day. For years, these have remained at a high level in all types of schools. In general, spaenle does not follow any forward-looking personnel planning.
Facts and figures on starting school
First-grade teachers: 112,000 children will then start their school careers.
School crowds: 1.68 million girls and boys will attend bavarian schools in the coming school year – about the same number as in the previous year. Around 420,000 of them go to vocational schools.
Teachers: 104,000 teachers currently working in bavaria. Bavaria has hired more than 4,000 new teachers for the new school year – but most of them as replacements for departing colleagues.
Schools: there are around 6100 schools in bavaria, namely 4600 general education schools and a good 1500 vocational schools. About 4400 of these are state.
Inclusion: another 100 teachers to help implement the UN disability rights convention. Since the joint legislation of all parliamentary groups, 700 additional positions have been created for inclusion alone.
G9: the students who will be enrolled in the gymnasium will de facto attend the first grade of the future new bavarian gymnasium. This will be a nine-year program, but it also offers a fast track as an individual learning shortcut.