Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony want to cooperate more closely on educational issues across state borders. The CDU education ministers and the CDU culture minister from the three states signed a corresponding agreement entitled "Strong Education Region Central Germany" in Erfurt on Friday. The aim is a regular exchange on strategic issues between the ministries responsible for education. "Everyone comes up with clever ideas and if you combine the ideas, you end up with great added value," said Thuringia's Education Minister Christian Tischner.
Teaching provision remains a common challenge
The most important challenge in all three states is currently the provision of teaching, said Saxony's Minister of State for Education, Conrad Clemens. Among other things, there is a high demand for special needs teachers in the area of inclusion and at special schools. Clemens therefore announced his intention to increase the number of study places in this area at Leipzig University in order to improve provision for all three federal states.
Due to falling numbers in vocational training, the merging of training courses was also a topic of discussion, said Tischner. Saxony's Minister of Education Clemens said that the aim here was "perhaps also to avoid duplication".
"We want to learn from each other"
According to Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Education Jan Riedel, close coordination is essential, particularly in matters relating to digitalization and the shortage of teachers. "We want to learn from each other, use synergies and jointly develop models that are practical," said the former head teacher from Halle, who only took over as Education Minister in July after the dismissal of the previous incumbent Eva Feußner (CDU).
This is the second meeting of education ministers and state secretaries as part of the "Central German Education Talks". The first round took place in Saxony-Anhalt in the spring. The format is to take place on a regular basis in future.
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