FDP presents three-stage plan to combat teaching absences

The Saxon FDP wants to prevent the loss of lessons at Saxon schools with a three-stage plan. "The first and most important priority must be to remove the loss of lessons from the curriculum. The fact that the Ministry of Culture sometimes speaks of 'planned lost lessons' is a revelation," explained Robert Malorny, top candidate for the state election on September 1. The concept includes short, medium and long-term measures aimed at reforming the education system, overcoming teacher shortages and reducing absenteeism to zero in the long term.

In the short term, the Liberals want to remove teaching staff from the administration and place them in front of the classes. "In addition, other civil servants should teach their areas of specialization in schools - for example, by having finance officers teach mathematics or forestry officers teach biology." The FDP is also planning to hire so-called learning assistants who could supervise independent learning and free work times.

"In the medium term, we need to relieve teachers of additional tasks and free up more time for teaching," emphasized Malorny. To this end, staff for IT, administration and social work could be brought into schools and digitalization could be promoted to make teachers' work easier. Possible applications of artificial intelligence - for example in the correction of work - should also be examined. The FDP Saxony also proposes reducing school bureaucracy and streamlining structures.

In the long term, the FDP Saxony is planning a reform of teacher training and curricula. In future, students studying to become teachers should receive more practical training and be in front of the classroom earlier than before, it said. Teacher training should also be more firmly anchored in the regions outside the major cities. The effects of the teacher shortage are particularly noticeable in rural areas. The Free Democrats also propose updating curricula and paying particular attention to the efficient teaching of content.