Niedersachsenmetall calls for improvements in school education
In order to protect Germany as a business location, the Niedersachsenmetall association believes that improvements need to be made to school education. "In the coming years, our competitiveness will depend even more on whether we succeed in closing the skills gap in the STEM professions," said Volker Schmidt, Managing Director of the employers' association. Immigration alone will not be enough.
Schmidt also reiterated his association's call for less bureaucracy for schools at the presentation of the latest STEM report in Berlin on Tuesday. MINT stands for the subjects of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. The Managing Director of Niedersachsenmetall also said that more scope was needed to employ lateral entrants in order to reduce the shortage of teachers in the short term.
According to the report, around 843,000 pupils attended school in Lower Saxony in the past school year. This corresponds to a decrease of 7.8 percent compared to the previous school year. For the 2031/32 school year, however, the total number of pupils is forecast to grow by 4.8 percent compared to the current level.
The report also expects an increase in pupil numbers nationwide. According to the report, this is due to a higher birth rate and increased immigration from abroad. This will also increase the demand for teachers. In Lower Saxony, there are currently between 12.5 and 14.6 pupils for every full-time teacher; nationwide, the figure is 14.1 to 15.4 pupils. There is already a shortage of 791,000 teachers nationwide, with an expected shortfall of 856,000 teachers by the 2033/34 school year. In the STEM sector, the demand nationwide will increase by 18,000 to 132,000 by 2035.
The STEM report also shows that the skills gap has only narrowed slightly nationwide. In September, around 476,400 jobs in the STEM sector were reported as vacant, with around 195,920 people registered as unemployed who would like to work in such a profession. The gap of around 285,800 people was therefore slightly below the 326,100 people a year earlier. The biggest shortages were in the energy and electrical, mechanical and automotive engineering sectors, as well as in IT professions and metalworking.
The Niedersachsenmetall association, in their belief to safeguard Germany as a business hub, advocates for improvements in school education, particularly focusing on STEM subjects such as MINT. To tackle the predicted shortage of skilled workers in these fields, Schmidt suggested reducing bureaucracy for schools and encouraging lateral entrants as teachers.
Source: www.dpa.com
