1600 places must be occupied

Potsdam – In view of the growing number of students and the high number of retirements among teachers, Brandenburg is looking for new teachers with great pressure: for the next school year 2023/24, almost 1600 full-time places are expected , the Ministry of Education announced Thursday. After the school year 2020/21, in which 1,544 permanent teachers were hired, this would be a new record number.

“In the coming school years, a continuing and high need for recruitment is foreseeable, as more students will attend schools in Brandenburg and teachers will retire at the same time,” the note reads. The number of annual retirements is expected to continue to increase until 2027 and only then to decrease.

Therefore, the ministry wants to talk to teachers’ associations about changing the part-time quota for teachers, the ministry said. In addition, ways should be sought to motivate older teachers to stay longer in the service. The number of early retirements at the age of 63 is currently on the rise.

In the draft double budget 2023/24, the state government has already foreseen 422 new teacher positions for the next year due to the increasing number of pupils. In 2024, there are expected to be another 330 jobs.