Lessons are regularly canceled at many schools in Saxony-Anhalt. Teachers are missing. Does it make sense to increase the number of teacher training places? The science minister has an answer.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Minister of Science Armin Willingmann (SPD) has spoken out against increasing the number of study places in Saxony-Anhalt to combat the shortage of teachers. "In the winter semester we now have 1,000 first-semester student places in Halle, of which a little over 800 are occupied. We have 200 student places in Magdeburg, not all of which are occupied. That means we have reached a certain maximum occupancy rate," said the SPD politician German press agency.
"There is currently no shortage of places to study. Our dilemma is more that the young people are also studying subjects that are not directly related to the needs of the country," said Willingmann. "And we have to offer interesting options to stay in Saxony-Anhalt - not only for qualified teachers."
The Minister of Science brings financial incentives into play. "We also need the teachers, who are essentially trained in Halle, in the Altmark or in the Harz Mountains. Why shouldn't there be an allowance for going into teaching in a region that is less in demand?" he said. "In order to counter the shortage, especially outside of the big cities, we need imagination and the willingness to try out unorthodox models."
The universities themselves would not be able to ensure that young people stay here, according to Willingmann. "We have to take responsibility together as a state. How do we make Saxony-Anhalt even more attractive? What motivates young people to go to rural areas and set up a business there?"
In state politics, there had recently been calls for an increase in the number of teaching positions in Magdeburg. The SPD politician thinks nothing of that. "We now have 1,220 first-semester teacher training places. These are essentially concentrated in Halle. And that's a good thing, because a country our size with a good 2.1 million inhabitants has a reasonably large teacher-training university. That's in other countries of this size similar," said Willingmann. According to his house, there are around 5,000 high school graduates in Saxony-Anhalt every year.
