- The significance of the new academic year is pivotal in Baden-Württemberg.
Bags from the corner, lunch boxes from the cabinet: Students in the Southwest are gearing up for their return to school on Monday, following a six-week summer break. The new academic year brings familiar hurdles, but also some novelties. Let me rundown the main events and facts:
Teacher Scarcity
The persistent teacher shortage is a long-standing issue. At the beginning of the last school year, there were 565 vacant positions, which was 191 fewer compared to the year before. The Minister of Education, Theresa Schopper (Greens), will discuss the progress of the hiring process at a press conference on Thursday.
This issue is also a significant concern for parents. "Teacher shortages always have repercussions on all aspects. They impact the knowledge imparted, and thus the scores in final exams. They create a supervision problem in elementary schools. They have an impact on class size," said Sebastian Koelsch, chairman of the state parents' council.
Newcomers
Newcomers are also set to help address the teacher shortage. For the first time this year, newcomers without teaching degrees will commence teaching in all types of schools. According to the Ministry of Education, around 400 teachers will join via the direct entry program.
These newcomers hail from various professions and will start teaching immediately. They will also receive pedagogical training for two years and must pass the same exam as regular teachers. If they perform well in their first year, they can be offered permanent employment by the ministry.
Primary School Choice
Parents of fourth-graders are also affected by changes. For the first time, the regulation for primary school recommendations will be implemented in this school year, rather than relying solely on parental preference. A model comprising three components – teacher recommendation, competency test, and parental wish – will be used instead. If two out of three components agree, that decision will hold sway. If parents still want their child to attend a grammar school, they will have to take an additional test. However, this recommendation only applies to grammar schools.
Democracy Education
The Education and Science Union (GEW) believe that more focus should be placed on democracy education in schools. "Democracy education must truly be made a top priority," said union leader Monika Stein. The election results in Saxony and Thuringia demonstrated that democracy is under threat. "I trust and hope that the weekend has now awakened the final few and highlighted the necessity of investing more in democracy education," Stein added.
Stein also urged the Ministry of Education to provide better information for teachers regarding the social media platform TikTok. The union has already suggested to the Ministry of Education that they offer teachers a brief evaluation of the platform's developments. There are numerous challenges that can be detrimental to health on the platform, as well as an abundance of misinformation. Teachers cannot afford to deal with these aspects in addition to their daily tasks.
From the students' perspective, teaching in the country demands modernization. "We receive outdated teaching with obsolete teaching techniques and outdated content at school," the state student council criticized in a letter to Minister of Education Schopper and other education policy stakeholders.
The chairman of the state student council, Joshua Meisel, used German lessons as an example of outdated teaching. "Analyzing poems is something that many students find disinteresting," he said. This is not relevant to their daily lives and should be less emphasized. "Rather, content that is more urgent should be covered," Meisel suggested. From the students' representative's viewpoint, a greater emphasis on argumentative writing would be beneficial – also to distinguish fake news and populism better.
Increasing School Dropouts
Teachers in the southwest report an increasing number of students not attending classes. "We receive reports from all over the country about students who have dropped out. Many young people who are required to attend vocational school after completing or leaving a general education school are not even present at vocational schools," said Michaela Keinath, deputy chairwoman of the Association of Vocational School Teachers (BLV).
During the school year, an increasing number of young people are also simply dropping out and not attending classes. "This has already significantly increased in the last one or two years," said Keinath. At vocational high schools, this affects around 10 percent of students, and in other areas of the vocational school system, it can affect up to 20 percent, according to Keinath. The BLV did not provide specific numbers.
The Commission, led by Minister of Education Theresa Schopper, will discuss the progress of the teacher hiring process at a press conference on Thursday. To address the teacher shortage, newcomers without teaching degrees will commence teaching in all types of schools this year, joining via the direct entry program sponsored by the Ministry of Education.
