Greens demand preservation of model project for teacher recruitment

The Greens are calling for the continuation of the model project for recruiting teachers in the province. The project - based in eastern Saxony and coordinated by the Technical University of Dresden - is about to be discontinued, according to the Green parliamentary group. With amendments in the current budget negotiations, the party is now attempting to remove a blocking note in the Ministry of Education's budget.

Greens: Canceling the project would be irresponsible

"This project is a crucial building block for attracting qualified teachers to rural regions in the long term. Canceling it due to a lack of funding would be irresponsible towards the schools, students and parents in eastern Saxony," explained parliamentary group leader Franziska Schubert.
In addition to cuts, a freeze has now even been put in place as they want to wait for an evaluation first.

"Security for successful structural work looks different. This also undermines the trust of all those involved locally who have put their heart and soul into the project," said Schubert. Without clear, earmarked funding from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science, it will die. "It is a beacon of innovative educational work in rural areas. Anyone who takes the structural change here seriously must not cut back on education."

Students look after pupils

In the program, students and teachers look after children during downtime. According to TU Dresden, it is not just about replacing missing teachers and holding regular lessons. Rather, the students are to provide additional opportunities for smaller learning groups that encourage and support pupils in their learning, for which there is hardly any time in normal subject lessons.

According to the Ministry of Education, there is currently a shortage of at least 1,400 full-time teachers in Saxony. In the first half of the 2024/2025 school year, the proportion of canceled lessons to the total number of lessons was 9.4 percent, it said. Depending on the type of school and region, however, there is a significantly higher rate of absenteeism. Education Minister Clemens Conrad (CDU) had also presented a package of measures. His aim is to halve the number of lost lessons.