Magdeburg (dpa / sa) – If you want to learn an instrument, you have to expect long waiting times in music schools in Saxony-Anhalt. “There are currently up to four years left for piano lessons,” said Christian Reineke, managing director of the Saxony-Anhalt State Association of Music Schools. According to Reineke, the main reason for this is the lack of junior teachers.
While some 20,000 students were still learning an instrument in state-recognized music schools in Saxony-Anhalt six or seven years ago, the number is currently only around 17,500 waiting lists. The piano is still particularly popular, Reineke says. The guitar, the violin and the recorder follow in the popularity scale.
500,000 euros are to be made available to music schools for the creation of new positions in order to counter the shortage of teachers. The state parliament decided this in its budget in May. “Especially in rural areas, young teachers can only be found and retained through permanent positions,” Reineke stressed. Funding is therefore a strong signal for music schools and music education as an important part of the development of children and young people.
To promote digitization in music lessons, the 20 state-recognized music schools of the state association had already received € 200,000 from the Ministry of Economy last year. With the money, all permanent teachers have equipped themselves with a tablet for online lessons. According to the CEO, digital teaching can complement face-to-face teaching in the future, but not completely replace it.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 221002-99-976267 / 5
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