Kerstin Rehm has spoken out in favor of compulsory corona vaccination for teachers.
She also has a clear opinion on the shortage of teachers.
Freising
- She is a woman of clear words: Kerstin Rehm, Chair of the Staff Council at the Freising State Education Authority and District Chair of the Bavarian Teachers' Association, is not afraid to put a finger in the wound of the Bavarian education system.
In the FT interview, she speaks to Tacheles about the teacher shortage, which is becoming more and more devastating, the new corona rules in schools and about the vaccination information that educators now have to their employer.
Ms. Rehm, for months and years you have been pointing out the acute shortage of teachers. What did you think when you heard that retirees now need to be brought back to schools to ensure education is available?
I already expected that.
A year and a half ago, when Corona began, Minister of Education Michael Piazolo wrote to all retired teachers up to the age of 70 whether they would be willing to return for a few hours a week.
So in such a way that it does not damage your pension.
We are happy that we were able to gain teaching staff in this way.
Because these are very good people who have a lot of professional experience, who are very good with children and are very well versed in their subject.
They are of course useful to us.
And it is impressive that our retirees feel responsible and want to help.
At the same time, however, you also need non-specialist personnel so that the education system does not collapse.
The good thing is: Our head teacher, Ms. Wienerl, attaches great importance to quality.
In other words, we make sure that we gain additional people who have some form of prior training in the pedagogical field.
You try where you can.
Social pedagogues and alternative practitioners have to help with teaching
Who are non-specialists who are nevertheless educationally versed?
These can be teacher training students, but also qualified social pedagogues, educators or alternative practitioners, i.e. pedagogically inclined people with an affinity for didactics and children, but who are not fully trained teachers.
As a parent, I would expect professionally trained people to look after my child - especially in this day and age, when there are very high demands in later professional life.
So far, the minister of education has not wanted to know anything about a shortage of teachers. In the face of such emergency solutions, does the ministry finally admit that there is a problem?
No.
Because now a variant has been found in which the Minister of Education can stand up and say: It works with the supply.
But the fact that untrained teachers help to cope with the lessons is a dangerous matter.
And do you know what the absurd is?
What?
In the shortest possible form, a teacher needs five years of training, seven years if he wants to become civil servant.
So at least seven years until it meets all the criteria and is heart and kidney tested.
Until he is technically, didactically and methodically fit.
So the state demands quality, and now you're hiring people on the side.
That does not fit.
Even high schools will soon be struggling with a teacher shortage
Emergency solutions should be limited in time until the basic problem has been resolved. Are efforts being made by the Ministry of Culture to counteract the shortage of teachers?
No, there are still no incentives.
Before the last state elections, the minister of education full-bodied announced the salary level A 13.
This means that elementary and middle school teachers who are generally poorly paid, but who work the most by the hour, should be grouped higher.
This has not yet happened to this day.
It is clear that fewer and fewer teachers are studying - in view of the ever increasing prices, especially when it comes to living space.
Frustrating?
I have the feeling that one rests on makeshift solutions.
And the need will only increase.
Because the same wave is rolling in at the grammar school.
They will also face a shortage of teachers in the near future.
And that in turn has an impact on elementary and middle schools.
Because high school and secondary school teachers who completed a second qualification with us and helped out with us are now migrating back to their original type of school.
And because there is currently a lack of teachers in middle school in particular, elementary school people are migrating there by the hour, even though they have a completely different education.
A pure marshalling yard in emergency operation.
You can say that.
A system has been in place here for years in which neither the teachers nor the students are in focus.
"The priority must be that we can leave school open"
Can we really afford such an ailing education system?
No.
Because we don't have any natural resources.
Our capital is our mind.
Germany lives from innovations.
That is why investing in the future with us is children's education.
For years, not only Piazolo, has failed to develop teaching staff, make the profession attractive, and advertise in schools.
That has been overslept and is still being done far too little.
Another big topic that drives the education system is Corona. After more than a year with many lockdowns at the schools, face-to-face teaching is to be maintained, but masking is again mandatory in the classroom. That's right?
Yes.
The priority must be that we can leave school open.
That is the goal of students, teachers and parents.
Society has recognized that this is important.
So that we can manage that, we of course wear a mask and also adhere to all the other rules.
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The primary school children in Rudelzhausen cheer: the community has taken money to protect the children by purchasing air filter systems.
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What do you think of the Bundestag resolution that teachers will in future be required to provide their employer with vaccination information?
I think that - with all data protection - is a matter of course.
Because this is about health.
I think everyone in the college has the right to know which teachers are vaccinated or not in order to weigh up the risk of infection.
And of course parents also have the right to know who their children who cannot be vaccinated are dealing with.
Everyone has to feel safe in the face of the fourth wave in autumn.
As a parent, I would not want to give my child to an unvaccinated teacher in class because then I would have concerns about my child.
"Parents should feel as safe as possible"
Especially since smaller children in particular cannot always be looked after at a distance.
Right.
When an emergency situation arises, I cannot say that I am comforting you from afar and waving to you.
That does not work.
In reality you have contact with children.
Parents should feel as safe as possible for their child.
And under the aspect that we want to leave the schools open, I even go one step further.
In fact?
I am clearly in favor of compulsory vaccination for all workers who have contact with vulnerable social groups.
From my point of view, this applies to nursing homes, homes, clinics, daycare centers, and also to teachers.
Because the group of six to twelve year olds, who cannot be vaccinated at the moment, is currently the most at risk for me.
We have to be careful about that.
What if you then have fewer teachers?
Health is number one priority.
And it shouldn't be about your own sensitivities, but about protecting children.
I expect that from officials and employees in the public service who enjoy a certain professional security. We were all able to experience what that is worth, especially during the Corona period.
As a civil servant, I have a special relationship with my state and, in addition to my rights, I also have the duty to take responsibility for this state and its community.
Dispensing with air filters is "at the expense of the children"
Will this opinion not make you popular everywhere?
But it is my deepest belief.
What is your opinion on the fact that relatively few schools have purchased air filters for classrooms?
I am very saddened by this.
Because there are many components that lead to the greatest possible protection against corona, and one of them would be air filters.
Many local politicians, especially the district administrator, argue that ventilation is sufficient.
Yes, and then grotesque situations arise, as has already been experienced here in the district, when a municipality complains that the heating costs in their school are rising so massively.
This fits in with the impression that all conceivable arguments against air filters are brought together in municipalities - always under the premise of saving costs.
Everything at the children's expense.
That's not okay.
But I would like to emphasize that we also have municipalities in the district that act in an exemplary manner here.
That's great.
Because we have to do everything we can to keep schools open.
We simply owe that to the children, who suffered extremely from the pandemic.
Also read:
The Freisinger Tagblatt organizes a digital training fair
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If you want, you can register now.
For face-to-face teaching, the schools accept the obligation to wear a mask. However, the managers do not agree on every Corona issue.