Journalistic style; Minister of Culture Piwarz praises lateral entrants in Saxon schools

Piwarz is delighted to see so many committed lateral entrants: "They are a great asset. Not only because they help to fill a vacancy, but also because they enrich the teaching staff in the schools with their professional and life experience," he said. "Nevertheless, we still want to ensure that teaching is carried out by fully qualified teachers. This must remain our goal." That is why we are working on improving the utilization of study places and increasing the pass rates in teacher training courses. However, fewer and fewer young people are studying natural sciences, meaning that they will be unable to enter the profession later on.

"If this situation does not change fundamentally, we will continue to have a shortage of subjects in the future. We are also heavily reliant on lateral entrants in vocational schools," said Piwarz. This specialist expertise is particularly needed there. "In any case, however, we need to find a sensible balance between fully qualified teachers and lateral entrants."