The new school year starts on Monday for hundreds of thousands of students. Some problems remain acute. How the Hamburg Minister of Education wants to counteract this and what is now changing.
The new school year in Lower Saxony brings 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 is expecting 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.
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, which will then put them in 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.
Teaching provision: Teaching provision 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, teaching provision was almost 100 percent as of August 2023, while at special schools it was only 91.6 percent.
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 equality: 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.
Focus is on primary schools
Start-up opportunities program: Around 122,000 children and young people are to benefit from the program, which is intended 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 fourth grade. Therefore, the focus now wants to be on primary schools. The learning time is intended to improve the teaching of basic skills in order to give children a secure basis for their further learning.
Criticism: Despite higher pay for many teachers, the Education and Science Union (GEW) sees numerous problems for the new school year. Despite the increase in the salaries of many teachers, there is no clear improvement in teaching provision in sight, said GEW state chairman Stefan Störmer.
CDU: Situation has worsened
Criticism also came from the CDU: Since taking office, the Minister of Education has addressed existing problems in schools, but has not taken effective measures to solve them, criticized CDU parliamentary group leader Sebastian Lechner. The situation has worsened. “What we urgently need now is a determined offensive to improve teaching provision,” said Lechner.
AfD education politician Harm Rykena criticized the Start Opportunities program, which he believes is too long. In addition, the teaching provision is too low at 96.6 percent. “In order to prevent real downtime, it should ideally be 110 percent,” he said.
dpa
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