The German Philologists' Association is opposing a proposal from Saxony to no longer make teachers civil servants nationwide. Speaking before the conference of education ministers, Susanne Lin-Klitzing, head of the association, said: "Those who destabilize schools destabilize our society. Civil servant status is a protective shield for teachers and therefore for our children and our future."
Saxony's Minister of Education, Conrad Clemens (CDU), is campaigning for an end to civil servant status for teachers and has announced that he will address this at today's conference of education ministers. The CDU politician justified this with financial challenges because high provisions are required for pensions. He told MDR at the beginning of the week that similar considerations were being made in several federal states.
The Philologists' Association countered that civil servant status was "not a question of comfort, but a question of the functioning of our democracy". Teachers who have to fear for their jobs find it more difficult to build sustainable relationships and ensure good teaching.
