- Approximately 455 permanent teaching positions in Brandenburg remain vacant
For the forthcoming academic year, there are still 455 full-time teaching positions left vacant in Brandenburg. As of August 29th, 378 of these positions have been advertised, as indicated by Education Minister Steffen Freiberg (SPD) during a press conference at the state chancellery. The discrepancy between the two figures is attributed to ongoing recruitment processes and positions that have yet to be announced, the ministry explained.
Regarding the vacancies, Freiberg admitted: "It was somewhat predictable that we wouldn't be able to completely fill the gap." He emphasized that the situation couldn't be sugarcoated and the teacher shortage was the biggest challenge, affecting all schools in the state.
However, the minister reassured that core teaching hours would be maintained for all schools. In the event of a need, cuts would first be made to elective subjects, and if it became really tight, support hours would be reduced. "The impact varies," said Freiberg. Larger schools are better equipped to manage shortages than smaller ones.
Numerous lateral entrants have been hired recently
In total, 1,512 teachers have been employed permanently and 1,601 on a temporary basis. This includes approximately 1,700 lateral entrants. According to the minister, this means that there are as many teachers working in Brandenburg's schools as there have been in the last two decades.
This is also due to initiatives such as the 63+ program, which supports the continued employment of teachers. So far, this has benefited over 430 teachers for the upcoming school year.
Freiberg mentioned that they're considering using positions from The Potsdam University's education faculty for the teacher shortage, as he stated, "We're exploring the possibility of hiring teachers from The Potsdam University's education faculty."
In an effort to tackle the teacher shortage, Freiberg suggested, "Additionally, we're planning to collaborate more closely with The Potsdam University to train and educate more teachers for our state."
