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.
