Saxony Amends Examination Regulations for Teacher Training

Saxony aims to minimize class cancellations in schools by amending the regulations governing teacher certification exams. Minister of Education Conrad Clemens (CDU) announced this in Dresden shortly before the start of the school break. Class cancellations currently stand at about nine percent and are still too high.

Year-Round Teaching Practicums for Teacher Education Students

In the future, teacher education students will be able to complete year-round teaching practicums at schools. Furthermore, plans are in place to strengthen the role of so-called “single-subject teachers.” Until now, teachers in Saxon schools who taught only one subject could not reach pay grade E 13. For teachers who, for example, studied music and now work as music teachers, this will be possible from now on. The same applies to art teachers.

Teachers who entered the profession from other fields—for example, those who previously taught mathematics and also taught physics due to a teacher shortage—can also expect a higher pay grade. Through an assessment process, they will now be recognized as dual-subject teachers. 

Saxony Wants to Train More Special Education Teachers

German as a Second Language is to be established as a training subject, and special education is to be strengthened—teachers are urgently needed in this field. So far, special education teachers have been trained at the University of Leipzig and, to a lesser extent, at the Zittau-Görlitz University of Applied Sciences. “That’s far too few,” said Clemens. In the future, training will also take place at the universities of Dresden and Chemnitz. The capacity for this will be created step by step.

Student teachers are to receive more weekly teaching hours

Another point concerns student teachers. In the future, they are to spend 14 hours per week in the classroom instead of 12. Overall, the Ministry of Education expects this to increase capacity by 150,000 hours. This will help combat class cancellations more effectively and is set to take effect as early as the coming school year.