“We are hiring at full speed”: Lower Saxony’s Minister of Culture Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens). Photo: Simona Bednarek / Julia Hamburg
The new school year in Lower Saxony is bringing problems. There are more students again – but at the same time there is a shortage of teachers. Education Minister Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens) is nevertheless optimistic. “We have significantly more students, we have more tasks and huge personnel challenges,” she said, adding: “But we also have significantly more teachers again, more than ever before in Lower Saxony.” The minister also wants to ensure greater educational equality with three measures.
An overview of the new school year
Pupils: At the start of the new school year, the number of pupils will rise again. The Ministry of Education is expecting 840,000 pupils for the new school year. That is around 19,000 more than in the previous school year. In view of rising birth rates and migration, the Minister of Education in Hamburg expects the numbers to continue to rise in the coming years. Around 82,000 children will be starting first grade. That is slightly more than last year (80,871). School enrollment will take place on August 10th.
Teachers: More students also require more staff. “Every additional teacher helps us to counteract the downward trend in view of the increasing number of students,” said Hamburg. According to the Ministry of Education, 2,191 teachers have been hired since the beginning of the year. However, there have also been 1,764 departures – thus an increase of a good 400 teachers. This is a contribution to stabilizing the situation as best as possible. But it is also clear that the shortage will remain.
Of the 1,467 advertised positions, 1,220 have been filled. That is a figure of around 83 percent – slightly better than last year (81 percent). “We will continue to recruit at full speed over the next few weeks,” said Hamburg. The draft budget for 2025 aims to create 2,460 additional positions this year and next. The crux of the matter: 876 of these positions have already been filled, leaving only 1,584 for next year.
With regard to the filling of advertised teaching positions, the Lower Saxony Teachers’ Association (VNL) announced that schools outside of grammar schools and rural regions in particular were recording numbers that were below average. “The consequences can be devastating for the further school careers of all students,” warns association chairman Torsten Neumann.
Die EW spoke of a high burden on teachers. Sickness rates are increasing, many are retiring early or reducing their working hours. “All of these are obvious factors in a spreading wildfire,” said the EW-State Chairman Stefan Störmer. According to EW The number of sick days for teachers at general education schools in the country has increased significantly – while in the 2019/20 school year there were an average of nine sick days, in the 2022/23 school year there were already an average of 14 days of absence per teacher.
More money for teachers
Salary: The state wants to counteract the shortage of teachers by, among other things, increasing pay. At the start of the new school year, the salaries of many teachers will be increased, and they will then move into a higher salary group. According to the Ministry of Education, around 35,500 teachers will benefit from this. More than 71,000 teachers teach at Lower Saxony’s general education schools.
For full-time employees, the jump means an increase of several hundred euros per month. According to the ministry, it is difficult to give a general answer as to how high the income is. It depends, for example, on whether the teacher is a civil servant or not and receives additional allowances. “The salary adjustments were long overdue and will protect Lower Saxony from a wave of migration in the long term,” stressed GEW boss Störmer.
Teaching provision: The provision of lessons has been a controversial issue in Lower Saxony for years. Most recently, this figure was 96.9 percent, which has risen slightly. Depending on the type of school, the figure is higher or lower. At grammar schools, the provision of lessons was almost 100 percent as of August 2023, while at special schools it was only 91.6 percent. According to EW 1,300 additional positions would be necessary to achieve a value of 100 percent in the new school year.
Better compatibility of family and career
Schools: According to the Ministry of Education, 41 new all-day schools were approved for the start of the new school year. Accordingly, 75 percent of all public, general education schools are all-day schools; for primary schools, the figure is 70 percent. On days with an open offer, all-day schools can introduce additional times in addition to the existing pick-up times. With the flexible pick-up times, the state is making an important contribution to better compatibility of family and work.
More educational equity: Hamburg’s Minister of Education wants to give the starting signal for more educational equality at the start of the new school year. Three new measures that work together are intended to ensure this: the social index, the start-up opportunity program and the so-called “Secure Basis” learning time.
Social index: If children and young people in schools need more support than in other schools, more teachers or other staff should be employed there. The social index was developed to find out where this need is particularly great. It takes various parameters into account – such as the proportion of students with a migrant background or language support measures.
Starting Opportunities Program: Around 122,000 children and young people are expected to benefit from the program, which is designed to increase educational equality. Over a period of ten years, the number of students who fail to meet minimum standards in mathematics and German is to be halved at 390 schools across the country.
Learning time «Secure basis»: According to the Ministry of Education, a quarter of all students do not reach the minimum standards after the fourth grade. That is why the focus is now on primary schools. The learning time is intended to improve the teaching of basic skills in order to give children a secure foundation for their further learning.
No relief: wave of retirements pushes teacher shortage to new heights
