"Sufficient" for school policy: lateral entrants indispensable
In a new survey, Bavaria's school policy only just receives an adequate report card from its own head teachers: On average, head teachers give the policy a 4.2, according to a Forsa survey presented on Friday. 34 percent gave school policy a school grade of 5, 7 percent even gave it an even 6. Overall, this is slightly better than last year, when the average was 4.6 - and roughly corresponds to the national average of 4.3.
The survey also shows that schools are increasingly relying on lateral entrants in view of the shortage of teachers - even more so in Bavaria than nationwide. According to the survey, a good three quarters (78 percent) of all school principals in Bavaria now employ teachers at their schools who have not acquired a teaching qualification - in Germany as a whole, the figure is 66 percent.
The proportion has risen significantly in recent years, according to the Forsa survey of over 1,300 head teachers nationwide, including around 250 in Bavaria. In 2021, 54% of school principals in Bavaria said that they hired lateral entrants. The Verband Bildung und Erziehung (VBE) presented the results of the survey on Friday at a school leadership congress in Düsseldorf.
The shortage of teaching staff is still seen as the biggest problem by 61 percent of principals in Bavaria - that is less than last year (71 percent). A good quarter (28%) named inclusion and integration as the greatest difficulty at school. A good one in five principals (22%) complained about the high workload and lack of time, as well as the issue of bureaucracy.
The head teachers were also asked what they currently feel most stressed about. As was the case last year, almost all head teachers surveyed mentioned the increasing administrative workload (98%) and a constantly growing range of tasks (97%).
Despite all the stresses and strains, according to the survey, a total of 87% of the school principals surveyed in Bavaria enjoy or rather enjoy their job - last year, a total of 78% said the same. According to the survey, only 12% dislike or strongly dislike going to work today.
In light of the teacher shortage, schools in Bavaria are turning to lateral entrants more frequently, with 78% of school principals employing teachers who haven't obtained a teaching qualification. This reliance on lateral entrants is a response to the education policy, which, while not deemed perfect, has received an adequate rating of 4.2 from head teachers.
Source: www.dpa.com
