Education pathway for teachers - New country: Dual study contracts concluded
You are the pioneers on a new path to becoming teachers in Thuringia: 50 young people signed contracts in Erfurt for a dual teacher training program for comprehensive schools. Thuringia is offering this mix of study and practice at training schools for the first time in the fall/winter semester.
Education Minister Helmut Holter (Left Party) sees this as a step towards getting more teachers into schools. Many schools currently face frequent teaching shortages.
Training with a monthly stipend
The future educators will receive a monthly stipend of initially 1,400 euros during their teacher training at the University of Erfurt, and 1,650 euros per month during their master's studies. There were hundreds of applications for this training path.
Holter did not rule out that the number of places could increase next year, but this will ultimately be decided after the state election together with the 2025 budget.
In the dual training program, students commit to staying in Thuringia for their training and a further five years. There are 50 training schools distributed across the state where they will start with an internship on September 1. The studies in the subjects of German, Mathematics, English, and Economics/Technology for comprehensive school teaching will begin in October.
Next application round in May
After two semesters of theory, a divided study period with additional practical training at the training schools will follow, with two days per week. According to the ministry, applications for 2025 will be possible from May, including for the subject of Sports.
Thuringia's Teachers' Association supports the new training option but criticizes the, in its opinion, insufficient number of training places. "We need to speed up here," said the state chairman Tim Reukauf. Fifty contracts are barely more than a drop in the bucket. According to the association's calculations, Thuringia is short of more than 2,000 teachers.
More places under discussion
The state chairman of the Left Party, Christian Schaft, spoke of a signal to combat the teacher shortage. The high demand for the new course shows "how important it is to go innovative ways to solve existing problems." He also called for a higher capacity next year.
The FDP called for solutions that would quickly lead to noticeable improvements and not just in four or five years. FDP leader Thomas Kemmerich proposed, among other things, bringing teachers back from administration to schools. Many teaching staff are currently assigned to administrative tasks in the authorities.
This dual teacher training program is specifically for comprehensive high schools in Thuringia. The future teachers who participate in this program are required to stay in Thuringia for their training and for an additional five years after completion.
