Working time study for teachers planned for summer

The Saxon Ministry of Culture wants to prepare the planned working time model for teachers from summer 2024 with a large-scale study. As Minister of Education Christian Piwarz (CDU) said when asked, the study is to run for a whole year and provide an interim result halfway through. "Only then will we see what scope there is for working time accounts or what scope there is to get more teachers into the classroom in the short term." Saxony is under observation throughout Germany in a positive sense. This is because other federal states are also interested in the results.

In order to guarantee the supply of teaching staff, Piwarz is considering a working time account model for teachers up to the age of 55. A temporary increase in the teaching quota per week could be financially compensated for teachers or later "cashed in" through fewer working hours. In this way, the Ministry of Education hopes to achieve greater flexibility. Acute peaks could be compensated for by additional work and in years with fewer pupils, the total workload could be reduced without having to lay off teachers: "Working time accounts would be ideal for this. They are also a modern way of planning working life individually."

To relieve the burden on teachers, there are assistants in everyday school life in Saxony. For example, they supervise, look after homework and provide extracurricular support. They also help pupils with foreign roots with integration and language acquisition. They are also in demand for cooperation with parents or for administrative tasks, such as organizing school conferences or public relations work. There are currently 833 women and men working as assistants in 770 full-time positions. According to the ministry, the aim is to have at least one assistant at every school in the future.