"Are you crazy?" Teachers are angry because the head of government sees deficiencies in the quality of teaching. The reason for the weaknesses of elementary school students is as clear as day - and that's not going to change anytime soon.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The head of the VBE teachers' association, Gerhard Brand, attacked Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann in an unusually harsh manner in the dispute over more teachers at primary schools. Above all, Brand goes against the grain of Kretschmann's statement that the weak results of many elementary school students in the most recent study have nothing to do with the number of teachers, but with the quality of the teaching. "That was a typical Kretschmann: speak first, then think," said Brand of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. It would have been better the other way around. But even with his most recent push for more part-time teachers, the head of government had galloped and later had to go small.
The state chairman of the Education and Training Association (VBE) complained that after decades in politics, the trained teacher Kretschmann (74) obviously had no idea about everyday school life. "He understands what goes on in class these days about as much as a brick understands swimming." Brand believes that the lack of staff in elementary schools is the main reason for the further sagging performance. He challenged Kretschmann: "Create the quantitative prerequisites for the first time, then you will be amazed at how high-quality the teaching can be." The situation at many primary schools is currently such that classes have to be combined and lessons have to be canceled due to a lack of staff.
Brand complained that they were running one "emergency program after the other". The corona pandemic is still not over and then the children who fled from Ukraine came along. "Without these emergencies, we already have too few staff." Kretschmann should have thanked the teachers for their commitment instead of criticizing the quality of the teaching. Many teachers would have responded to the statement by the head of government with the question "Is it still okay?" reacted. What Kretschmann says is "nonsense".
The head of the association appealed to Kretschmann and Minister of Education Theresa Schopper (Greens) to give the people in Baden-Württemberg a clean slate when it comes to the performance of elementary school students. "It's not going to improve any time soon." The massive shortage of teachers will worsen due to the wave of pensions, which will peak in 2025. The number of graduates will not be sufficient to fill this gap. "We have to be prepared that it will take us five to ten years to overcome the teacher shortage." Politicians have to admit: "We're not making any progress at the moment and we can't maintain the level."
On Tuesday, Kretschmann was "deeply concerned" about the poor performance of many elementary school students, which a new study had revealed. However, the Green politician warned against constantly calling for more teachers. It's "always the same thing. It has nothing to do with the problem." It is not about the number of teachers, but about the quality of the teaching. He recalled that after the crash in the 2016 study, the country established two scientific institutes and took a number of measures to strengthen basic skills in German and math.
Brand said the institutes have not been of any real help since their inception in March 2019. Especially the larger center for school quality and teacher training (ZSL) is still missing a lot before it runs smoothly. "The yield is not yet such that the teachers are yelling 'Hooray'."
