Left-wing parties call for rapid relief for teachers

The Left Party in the Saxon state parliament is calling for teachers to be quickly relieved of their workload by multi-professional teams. This is part of a school policy project in the Free State to support teachers with specialists from other areas, such as social workers and administrative assistants. According to a small question in the state parliament, the Left Party stated that the teams often consist of just one person.

It would be a major task to set up multi-professional teams at all schools, said MP Luise Neuhaus-Wartenberg. "As things stand at the moment, apart from special schools, there are hardly any schools in the state where you can speak of teams in terms of extracurricular support."

Leftists see a lot of catching up to do

"Most elementary school have at least one pedagogical school assistant; in grammar schools and vocational schools, teachers mainly receive administrative support. Staff for practical advice are only available at 252 of the 370 secondary schools, and even there only a maximum of two full-time positions, each assigned to four classes," said the MP. This is far from sufficient.

Neuhaus-Wartenberg recalled the coalition agreement between the CDU and SPD, according to which the teams are to be further expanded. "I agree with that. However, one person at a school is by no means a team."

Her party will work to ensure that positions are created and filled quickly during the budget negotiations. "There is a need at all locations." Staff need long-term prospects.

Ministry: funding is not permanently secured

According to the Ministry of Education, the number of multi-professional teams is constantly growing. "The development towards equipping all Saxon schools in line with requirements is being slowed down in particular by the fact that the funding of positions is not permanently secured," was the ministry's response to the Left Party's minor interpellation. As the budget legislator, the state parliament can control the pace of funding.