Not enough graduates in sight for the teaching profession
According to Science Senator Ina Czyborra, only small progress has been made in the training of urgently needed teachers in Berlin. In 2022, just over 1,000 teacher training students graduated from Berlin universities with a Master's degree for the first time and were therefore able to begin their preparatory service, as the SPD politician announced after the Senate meeting on Tuesday. According to earlier figures, the previous year's figure was around 900.
However, despite a slight increase, Berlin is still a long way from the current target of 2,000 graduates in this field each year. The new university contracts for the funding period 2024 to 2028 even stipulate 2,500 teaching graduates per year.
Czyborra spoke of a continuous increase in the number of graduates. This is also indicated by the fact that 1329 students recently completed Bachelor's degree courses and then went on to study for a Master's degree. These students could complete their studies in two to three years.
However, further efforts are needed to increase the number of graduates in the teaching profession to the necessary extent. The Senator referred to various efforts to make faster progress here. These include better support and supervision of students in order to prevent them from dropping out of their studies.
According to Czyborra, Berlin is also trying to attract more student teachers with the help of a cross-university advertising campaign. As part of this campaign, a central website for interested parties will go online in December. A "multi-cohort study" is to provide more information on why a comparatively large number of student teachers drop out or switch to other universities.
According to the data, the number of first-year students studying for a bachelor's degree in teaching in Berlin was recently around 2,600. And this is where the problems begin. According to Czyborra, around three times as many prospective students were accepted for their studies - but among them were many who applied several times for different subject combinations.
The Senate has proposed using a cross-university advertising campaign to attract more students pursuing teaching degrees, recognizing the need for an increase in the number of graduates. This push for more teachers is crucial, especially considering the rising number of refugees seeking education.
Despite echoing Senator Ina Czyborra's call for enhanced student support to reduce dropouts, concerns about the Senate's ability to manage a potential influx of refugee students seeking education in the teaching field also arise.
Source: www.dpa.com
