Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – Most of the approximately 2.5 million schoolchildren in North Rhine-Westphalia will receive a half-year report this Friday. According to the Ministry of Education, elementary schools have been able to issue half-year reports since Monday.
School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) described the certificates as important feedback for the children and young people. They reflected “what is going well or where there is room for improvement”. If they have any questions about grading or the further course of their school career, pupils and parents can contact the district government’s certificate hotline, according to the ministry.
Meanwhile, the discussion about the shortage of teachers continues, which, according to the GEW union, became clear across the board in the first half of the year. “In a system that is characterized by lack, education becomes a Hercules task,” said GEW country head Ayla Çelik of the German Press Agency. There is currently no education in places where lessons are canceled in rows because there are no teachers and they can no longer be substituted due to illness.
The state government must relieve the teachers of non-pedagogical tasks, for example by IT specialists and school administration assistants, confirmed the GEW state chair. In addition, it must also be discussed whether, for example, the number of exams can be temporarily reduced, the frequency of teacher conferences can be reduced and the compulsory tasks can be reduced. In North Rhine-Westphalia, more than 8,000 teachers are missing across the country.
School Minister Feller had presented measures to alleviate the shortage of teachers – for example through more side entrants, everyday helpers, more rigorous delegations and fewer class tests. For this purpose, legal regulations are currently being adapted and instructions for the district governments are being drawn up – everything should be ready in the spring, she only said on Wednesday.
Looking back on the first half of the year, the VBE NRW trade union had pointed out a high level of sick leave among schoolchildren before Christmas. This resulted in the situation that work had to be rewritten immediately after the holidays, which caused stress in the schools. The state parent conference of North Rhine-Westphalia spoke of a great pressure to perform due to the high level of sick leave, absences and the upcoming date of the half-year reports. The scope of mandatory work should have been reduced.
The half-year reports are issued relatively early this time in January compared to previous years. According to information from the NRW Ministry of Education, the other holiday dates play a role in the determination: the summer holidays in NRW start on June 22 this year. According to the ministry, the current school year 2022/23 is no shorter overall than previous school years.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230120-99-287926/2
