By Laura Kabelka | EURACTIV.de
07-09-2022
A total of 27 students from two small elementary schools are affected by the closures. The children are now admitted to other elementary schools; the parents had already been informed at the end of the last school year. [Shutterstock/BalanceFormCreative]
Languages: Deutsch
The debate about teacher shortages was reignited as two small schools in the federal state of Vorarlberg could not be opened for the start of the school year due to staff shortages.
A total of 27 students from two small elementary schools are affected by the closures. The children are now admitted to other elementary schools; the parents had already been informed at the end of the last school year.
The liberal Neos, meanwhile, called for extensive reforms in education. The conservative Minister of Education Martin Polaschek must “now finally wake up” and counteract the shortage of teachers, said Neos Klubobfrau Beate Meinl-Reisinger and education spokeswoman Martina Künsberg Sarre at a press conference on Tuesday.
The job description must become more attractive, and with an incentive and promotion system, there should be career chances for engaged teachers, according to the Neos.
State Governor Barbara Schöbi-Fink of the conservative party hopes that the two schools in Vorarlberg will be able to reopen in one to two years.
Schöbi-Fink also said on Tuesday that more new or returning teachers were recruited this year than last. This was a sign that measures such as a dedicated recruiting position or an increased rental subsidy for teaching staff relocating from other states were working.
But the shortage of teachers is a growing challenge throughout the EU.
For example, 30,000 to 40,000 positions have remained unfilled in Germany this school year, and the president of the German Teachers’ Association, Hans-Peter Meidinger, told ZDFheute that it was “the worst school year in 50 years.”
Languages: Deutsch
