Without easing the shortage of teachers, other problems in the German education system can hardly be solved. The President of the German Teachers’ Association says: The profession must become more attractive.
According to the President of the German Teachers’ Association, Heinz-Peter Meidinger, the acute shortage of teachers is also slowing down the solution to many other problems in the education system. There are huge challenges, “and of course this teacher shortage is like a leaden blanket that covers everything,” said Meidinger of the German Press Agency.
He referred, for example, to the more than 200,000 Ukrainian children and young people who were admitted to schools, the aftermath of the corona pandemic, poor reading and math results among primary school children and the need for individual support for schoolchildren.
“Meaningful, socially important job”
At the same time, the outgoing association president, on the occasion of the election of his successor today, also promoted a positive view of the German education system and the teaching profession, despite all the mood of crisis. “It can be one of the most beautiful jobs. You get a lot back. It’s a very meaningful, socially important job. And that’s why politicians have the task of making this job attractive again.”
A delegates’ meeting of the German Teachers’ Association will elect a new association president this Friday in Berlin. Meidinger, who comes from a family of teachers, is no longer at the top after six years. The term of office of the former head of a high school in Deggendorf, Bavaria, officially ends on June 30th. The Augsburg headmaster Stefan Düll is expected to be the successor.
Teacher shortage worst in 50 years
In other countries education is extremely expensive, in Germany it is free. “Well, I would leave the church in the village. In an international comparison, Germany can still keep up well with its school system,” said Meidinger. However, he sees challenges that have not existed to this extent in the past. The teacher shortage is the biggest in 50 years. “And what’s particularly bad, of course, is that there’s no end in sight.” Experts expect the tense situation to continue over the next 10 to 20 years. “Previously phases of teacher shortages and phases of teacher unemployment alternated.”
In the short term, it’s a matter of recruiting career changers, relieving teachers of other tasks with more administrative staff, social workers and IT staff, motivating part-time teachers to work again or letting retirees work longer if they want to.
More attractive, modern, more challenging
Overall, however, the teaching profession must be made more attractive, modern and challenging in the long term. “So this current practice, I decide on a job and that’s a one-way street. I do the same thing on the first day of my working life as on the last. It’s no longer attractive for young people today. We have to imagine modernizing the job profile .”
The outgoing president of the association also spoke out in favor of a large advertising campaign: “Well, I’m surprised why there isn’t a poster hanging at every school that says ‘Teachers wanted, come to us’ and also makes it clear what a fulfilling it is job. In return, however, politicians would actually have to take measures to make this job attractive again.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
