"It's getting tight": Bavaria's start to school is shaped with oh and noisy

Created: 09/09/2022 10:13 am

By: Dirk Walter

Eliminated hours and larger classes - the shortage of teachers in Bavaria is plaguing elementary and middle schools.

"It's going to be tight," says the Minister of Education himself.

Munich/Miesbach – The call for help is fresh.

"The bad news came yesterday," reports a mother.

A second class that was actually planned at the elementary school Parksiedlung Oberschleißheim cannot be formed - the lack of teachers makes that impossible.

Now students are supposed to switch to neighboring schools, have to get used to a new school, have to find new friends.

"Our children are all very sad."

Problems in Bavaria's schools: elementary schools with an increase in pupils

Not an isolated case: Whether Miesbach, Bad Tölz or Dachau - in many places there is bad news about the start of school.

Especially in elementary and middle schools, the school authorities and headmasters only get a reasonably successful start to school with a number of contortions.

There is a decent increase in pupils at the primary schools in Bavaria: 23,200 pupils more than in the previous year, plus 5.2 percent, reported Minister of Education Michael Piazolo yesterday.

The number of first graders has even increased by seven percent – ​​130,000 instead of 120,500 as in the previous year.

The number is well above the general student increase of 2.8 percent (45,000 students).

The main part goes to the 30,000 children from the Ukraine who go to school in Bavaria.

Piazolo advocated starting the new school year with “a little joy and optimism”.

The other news - war, energy crisis - is depressing enough.

He emphasized: "We have solid teaching in all types of schools," but admitted: "It's getting tight."

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Lack of teachers in Bavaria means hours are lost

Optimism is also necessary, because the provision for teachers is sewn on edge.

At the Rottach-Egern elementary and middle school in the Miesbach district, for example, Rector Ulrich Throner reports on painful cutbacks: no more second art lessons in the third and fourth grades, the omission of differentiated physical education classes at the middle school.

Part-time teachers must take on class leadership.

His colleague Claudia Horstmann, principal of the Tegernsee elementary school, will also take over her own class management in an emergency – which is unusual.

The new school year in Bavaria is proving difficult.

There is a shortage of teachers in elementary and middle schools.

© Peter Kneffel / dpa / picture alliance

In the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, a different approach was taken: the school authority sent an e-mail before the holidays and called on the schools to reactivate pensioners.

Despite this, the class sizes at primary schools are increasing – from an average of 21.7 to 22.5 children per class.

The Minister of Education, Piazolo, is actually proud that the average class size across Bavaria has steadily decreased over the past decades – by an average of two children per class.

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In the district of Erding, the director of the education authority, Robert Leier, is happy to have prevented "the worst".

"We managed to hire 25 temporary workers for 390 hours a week." But all additional offers in sports, music and art fell victim to the emergency.

In the district of Dachau, too, compulsory teaching could not be maintained without student teachers with the first state examination or at the end of their studies.

Some of you work 15 hours a week as a teacher.

Chaotic school start in Bavaria: SPD calls for more attractive wages

In 2019, Piazolo had imposed various coercive measures on elementary and middle school teachers, including reducing the possibility of part-time employment and early retirement and decreing overtime.

There should be no further measures.

Nor will he order the deletion of certain compulsory lessons or curriculum content.

Yesterday, the SPD and the GEW asked Piazolo to make the profession of primary and secondary school teacher more attractive by introducing the entry-level tariff "A13 for everyone".

But the coalition agreement does not provide for that, says Piazolo.

Bavaria: Protests are discouraged

There is no relief in sight.

Most of the mobile reserves are already planned.

2900 pregnant teachers in all types of schools are still banned from entering and can only help in the home office.

Corona infections among teachers are also to be expected again – most recently, an average of 1.7 percent of teachers stayed at home for a week because of a positive test.

Despite calls from parents, the Bavarian Parents' Association advises "against large-scale protests," as chairman Martin Löw from Rosenheim emphasizes.

"Nevertheless, it should be said very clearly that we are anything but happy with the situation."(

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