School year in Saxony begins with more pupils

A new school year begins on Monday for around 534,000 pupils in Saxony. This includes around 37,000 first-graders. Overall, the number of pupils has risen by 10,000 compared to the previous school year. The ministry attributes this primarily to migration, but also to immigration from other states. The number of first-graders, on the other hand, has fallen by around 3,500.

Minister optimistic about lesson absenteeism

While Minister of Education Conrad Clemens (CDU) is optimistic that he will be able to significantly reduce lesson absenteeism in the new school year, there is skepticism elsewhere. The trade union for education and science sees the coming months as being gloomy. According to their calculations, more than 4,000 additional teachers are needed in order to fully cover lessons with supplementary teaching. In the previous year, around nine percent of lessons were canceled as a result of the teacher shortage.

More than 1,000 new teachers hired

According to the Ministry of Education, the number of school staff increased by 438 compared to the previous year. A good 1,114 new teachers were recruited, including 885 qualified specialists. In addition, there are 229 lateral entrants who have been in training since May and are now starting to teach.

Some things will change for pupils and teachers with the new school year. Updated curricula are coming into force in German and mathematics. In addition, a pilot project for interdisciplinary teaching is to be implemented. All teachers can now use an AI assistant developed by the Free State itself. The state also acquired a license for the "Bettermarks" platform, which analyses learning progress and offers tailored tasks for pupils.