- Kindergarten and educational year commence under circumstances of resource limitations.
From the viewpoint of the Education and Science Union (GEW), the North Rhine-Westphalian state government hasn't come up with a solid solution to address educational inequity. Adhering to the commencement of the new kindergarten year and the new school year, both fundamental aspects of education, are still grappling with significant teacher shortages. As per GEW state chairwoman Ayla Çelik, about 6,000 educators are currently absent from schools alone.
Billions Required for Subpar Performance
The persistent staffing issues and chronic underfunding have worsened the socio-economic gap, the unionist argued. Presently, NRW trails behind the country's average by 900 euros per pupil, with an annual spending of 8,300 euros. "If the state government aims for mediocrity, an extra 2.3 billion euros would be necessary within a year," Çelik calculated. "We require an education budget that isn't reliant on the overall budget and guarantees investments over a decade."
Minister of Education Dorothee Feller (CDU) had declared more German and mathematics lessons for the new school year, along with widespread assessments of preschool language abilities. However, these initiatives are worthless without the staff to carry out suggestions, argued Çelik.
"Once again, it's proven that these projects only yield results if employees go beyond their limits. Schools are coping with the shortage, yet more programs are being imposed. Increasing parental responsibilities for preschool support won't remedy the situation due to diverse home conditions."
GEW: Prioritize Time with Students over Marking Assignments
Decreasing the amount of homework assignments could be more beneficial, proposed C̈elik. Instead of spending numerous hours grading homework, teachers could focus more on spending time with students. Furthermore, lesson plans should be simplified, she added.
She also condemned the contentious teacher deployments to understaffed schools. Although legally permissible, these actions create uncertainty and discontent in classrooms. The shortage is not remedied but just shifted.
In two recent judgments, the Administrative Court of Münster hindered two teacher deployments last week due to illogical selection criteria.
The Education and Science Union (GEW) strongly criticizes the illogical selection criteria used in recent teacher deployments, as seen in two court rulings. Additionaly, GEW chairwoman Ayla Çelik suggests reducing homework assignments to allow teachers to spend more time with students, arguing that simplified lesson plans could also be beneficial.
