In order to fully cover teaching, there is a shortage of almost 1,400 teachers in Saxony this school year. That is around 200 more than in 2023/2024, according to the Ministry of Education. This means that only around 95% of the teaching planned according to the timetable is covered.
This means that teaching provision in the so-called basic sector is one percentage point worse than in 2023/2024. The situation remains particularly precarious at secondary schools with 89.5 percent (minus 2.9) and special schools with 88.8 percent (minus 0.6). The situation is better at primary schools (98.7%), community schools (102.1%) and grammar schools (97.3%).
Schools can mitigate the shortage to some extent with budgets for additional staff and assistants from the supplementary sector. According to the figures, the gap has shrunk to around 1,100 missing teachers.
Clemens: We need to get more teachers in front of the classes
"We urgently need to improve the supply of teaching staff and get more teachers in front of the classes," said Minister of Education Conrad Clemens (CDU). It has not yet been possible to provide the teacher resources required to secure the timetables for all types of schools. The ministry cited rising pupil numbers and the shortage of teachers as well as their declining work capacity as reasons for this.
While the number of pupils has increased by around 4,300 to a good 440,000 this school year, the number of teachers has only increased by around 160 to around 35,100. The average working capacity of all teachers is around 91%, as almost 36% work part-time, in addition to reduced working hours due to age, for example. This corresponds to 2,900 full-time positions.
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