Violin, singing or simply clapping to the rhythm: more than 300,000 people are learning this at music schools in the southwest. But Corona has hit many institutions hard. There is another problem.
Ravensburg (dpa / lsw) - It has become quieter in Baden-Württemberg's music schools. On the one hand, the number of students fell by almost eight percent during the corona pandemic, and on the other hand there was a lack of teachers, the state association of music schools in Baden-Württemberg announced in the run-up to its annual conference in Ravensburg on Thursday and Friday. Especially in basic music lessons, elementary music pedagogy, there is currently a lack of specialists. Nationwide, vacancies could not be filled.
Music colleges must therefore continue to strengthen the corresponding courses, said the head of the Stuttgart music school and chairman of the state association, Friedrich-Koh Dolge. But secure jobs with decent salaries are also important in order to get more young people interested in the profession.
The need for teachers is therefore particularly great in basic music lessons, because in this area there is increasing cooperation with all-day schools and day-care centers. These are "important pillars" in order to "ignite enthusiasm for music in children as early as possible" and to attract new students, said Dolge, head of the association.
During the corona pandemic, many music school teachers kept the lessons going digitally. But while the number of students has remained stable in many places, around 30 percent fewer students are now being taught at individual institutions than before the pandemic began. In the current year, the music schools are expecting an "upward movement", said Dolge. The prerequisite for this, however, is that there are no further corona restrictions.
According to a study by the German Music Information Center, Baden-Württemberg is in second place with 214 in terms of the number of public music schools, just behind Bavaria (218). According to the state association, almost 8,000 teachers teach more than 300,000 children, young people and adults in the south-west.
