More students, but no new schools

Created: 06/12/2022, 06:00

By: Hans Moritz

The Gymnasium Dorfen is currently attended by 935 students, and the trend has been falling for years.

From 2025, the trend is likely to reverse.

By 2023 there could be over 1300 children.

The situation is similar at the other secondary schools.

Because in addition to the continuous immigration, there are noticeably more births again.

© Michaele Heske

With the exception of the Oberding Realschule, which only went into operation in 2012, all secondary schools in the Erding district have lost young people in recent years, sometimes significantly so.

This is likely to change again in the coming years.

Erding - But for the time being the growth will not be so strong that further facilities are required.

This was explained by Christian Rindsfüsser from the SAGS institute, who prepared a current school report for the district, yesterday in the education committee of the district council.

His conclusion: At all schools, the numbers are far from previous highs.

Extensions or even new buildings are currently not necessary.

There is still space left.

Rindsfuß identified the number of available teachers as the eye of the needle.

All studies assumed that more educators are needed than are available.

This means that the classes are likely to become larger again, which is reflected in the space requirements.

Rindsfusser reported that the number of births had been declining from the late 1990s to the early 2000s.

"Meanwhile, the attitude has changed, women are having more children again." Since 2015, the number of students has risen by a sixth because of this.

This will – with a time lag of ten years – have an impact on secondary schools.

In Erding, there will also be an influx, which according to Rindsfußer will continue until 2039 – as far as his forecast ranges.

At the end of the 1920s there would be around 150,000 district citizens, ten years later 160,000.

District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer (CSU) pointed out that the population is also increasing due to refugees.

In the district of Erding, an above-average number of children changed from elementary school to secondary school, unlike in Munich, according to Rindsfußer.

Here he expects growth of 26 percent over the next ten years compared to 2021.

The situation is similar in high schools.

In 2029, for example, it should be 4,200.

There are currently 3,100. Above all, he predicted strong growth of around 40 percent for the Dorfen high school, which was particularly badly affected by the downsizing.

At the Erdinger schools it is a good 30 percent.

But they would be able to cope with that, after the numbers have recently fallen, as is well known.

As for middle schools, he noted that student enrollment would grow from 2,400 to under 3,000 during this period.

His prognosis: No location is in danger.

The inflow to the FOS/BOS, which many Realschule students attend after secondary school, will continue to be high.

Between 2003 and 2021 alone, the number of students grew from 204 to 900.

Stephan Treffler (ÖDP) spoke of "valuable numbers because a trend can be seen".

He suggested renewing the report in five years in order to derive options for action for the school infrastructure.

Michael Oberhofer (CSU) saw it that way too.

And Bayerstorfer explained: Under these assumptions, the 40 million expansion of the Anne Frank High School is justified.

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