Around 2,000 fully trained teachers in Rhineland-Palatinate are unemployed after their traineeship because their contracts are expiring.
Bianca Bartels is a French and chemistry teacher who completed her internship in July. She will be given a civil service position for the new school year and has a secure job. But in between she will be unemployed for six weeks and without income. But the costs will continue to rise.
“I have spent the last few weeks applying to see whether I will receive unemployment benefit or citizen’s allowance. As a prospective teacher, you imagine the summer holidays to be somewhat different,” says Bianca Bartels.
In principle, prospective teachers are not entitled to unemployment benefit – during their preparatory service, as the traineeship is also called, they are civil servants on probation and do not pay social insurance contributions. So they are left with the application for citizen’s allowance.
You know what to expect, says Bianca Bartels. But: “You do start to think about it. What will happen to your health insurance, what will happen to your salary, which is suddenly gone.” Many people don’t know how they will get by in the six weeks and don’t have any savings to draw on.
What happens to health insurance, what happens to the salary that is suddenly no longer there?
Bianca Bartels, prospective teacher
Around 2,000 trainees have been without pay since July
Many prospective teachers in Rhineland-Palatinate are in the same situation as her. Around 2,000 trainee teachers completed their preparatory service on July 14. They are being sent into unemployment, their contracts have expired. New teachers will not be hired until the first day of school, which in Rhineland-Palatinate is August 26. In the meantime, they will not be paid.
GEW criticises “summer unemployment”
For Christiane Herz, regional chairwoman of the GEW Rhineland-Palatinate, this practice is absurd. “We would like the young teachers who have completed their training well to be able to move seamlessly into employment.” The young people would also like to use the summer holidays to prepare themselves and to exchange ideas with new colleagues. None of this is possible because they do not yet have new contracts.
Traineeship for teaching
The traineeship for teaching is the second phase of training after the degree, also Preparatory service The prospective teachers are employed in schools and teach independently. The Duration varies depending on the federal state – keyword federalism. In Brandenburg it is 12 months, in most states – including Rhineland-Palatinate – 18 months. In Bavaria and Thuringia the traineeship lasts 24 months. The Remuneration in the traineeship also depends on the federal state – and on the type of school. According to GEW, in Rhineland-Palatinate it is between 1,494.25 (primary schools) and 1,565.78 euros at high schools and vocational schools (as of 2023). The start of the traineeship is based on the beginning of the school year or semester (1.8./1.2. of each year). In the traineeship, the prospective teachers are “Officials on probation” and during this time are treated the same as civil servants in terms of social security. This means that they do not pay any contributions to unemployment or pension insurance – so in the event of unemployment after their traineeship they are not entitled to unemployment benefit.
Ministry: “Economical use of taxpayers’ money”
The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education responded in writing to SWR’s inquiries. It said: “Of course we can understand that the trainees are not happy about not being paid for a few weeks during the transition period.” The ministry argued that it is also common practice in other sectors to only sign employment contracts once the work – in this case teaching – has actually been carried out. In addition, it is important to use taxpayers’ money sparingly.
In order to ensure the careful use of taxpayers’ money, the state government believes it is necessary to employ teaching graduates from the moment they begin teaching.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Education RLP
Bridging a period between the end of training and the start of professional activity is by no means unusual both within and outside the public service, according to the Ministry of Education.
Bavaria and Saxony pay, BW and Hesse do not
However, not all federal states see it that way. In Bavaria, for example, trainee teachers continue to be paid. There, the traineeship lasts 24 months, the summer holidays are integrated into the training period and are paid. This also applies to Saxony.
In the neighboring states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, the same practice applies as in Germany. There, too, this repeatedly causes discussions and protests. In Baden-Wurttemberg According to the regional association of the Education and Science Union (GEW), around 4,000 prospective teachers will be laid off into summer unemployment. This makes Baden-Württemberg the top state nationwide.
In Hesse The responsible ministry argues in a similar way to Rhineland-Palatinate: “No company hires people in advance whose work will only be needed later,” the information says. In addition, the interruption is reasonable in view of the subsequent permanent employment and lifelong support from the state. There are no plans to change this regulation.
The GEW Rhineland-Palatinate does not accept these arguments. Because even with substitute teachers, it is often not clear whether they will continue to be employed after the holidays. Nevertheless, in these cases they continue to be paid. However, this has only been the case since 2019.
Civil service in RLP the rule
The different regulations could result in candidates moving to another state, where they would receive their money sooner. The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education apparently does not see this as a risk. Here, civil service status is the norm, according to a spokeswoman. They work with advance confirmations so that trainees can be sure of being hired quickly. The ministry also points to the balance of the state exchange process. This shows that more teachers are being transferred to Rhineland-Palatinate than are being transferred away from the state.
Timing of holidays varies
According to the Ministry, the duration of “summer unemployment” also depends on how the Holiday dates This varies from year to year due to rotation between the federal states. If the summer holidays start early in June, for example, the preparatory service sometimes ends during the summer holidays and the trainees do not have to worry about this. This year the period is relatively long, as school does not start again until the end of August. In the next two years, school will start – and therefore the recruitment date for the young teachers will be earlier in August.
Bianca Bartels is no longer interested in all the math games. In a few days she will be a civil servant and will be standing in front of her class. But she would like politicians to show more appreciation for the prospective teachers.
I’ll be honest, teaching is a great job and I’m looking forward to the upcoming school year. But to a certain extent we’re left stuck in the same position after our traineeship. And the same thing happens every 18 months. I think it’s time to do something about it.
Bianca Bartels, prospective teacher
Broadcast on Tue., 20.8.2024 19:30, SWR Aktuell Rheinland-Pfalz, SWR RP
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