Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann does not want to make any compromises in the educational goals despite the shortage of teachers. “We can’t openly give up on a question like that,” said the Green politician on Tuesday in Stuttgart. School policy is one of the most important issues in the country. Nevertheless, the most recent study “dramatically revealed” the gaps in elementary school children. The country has undertaken a number of reforms, but these are not yet visible. “It’s not that fast,” said Kretschmann. “Children aren’t machines into which you throw something and then something comes out.” He again protested that all problems in schools would be solved if there were more teachers.
Gerhard Brand, state head of the Association for Education and Training (VBE), had appealed to Kretschmann and Minister of Education Theresa Schopper (Greens) to give the people in the south-west clean wine when it came to the performance of primary school children. Politicians have to admit: “We’re not making any progress at the moment and we can’t maintain the level.” The teacher shortage will worsen due to the wave of pensions, which will peak in 2025. The number of graduates will not be sufficient to fill this gap.
Kretschmann admitted: “Of course, the cancellation of lessons is an urgent and urgent problem.” But the problems in the schools are not only due to a lack of teachers. You can see that from the fact that in 2019 there were around 94,000 teachers for 1.5 million pupils, while in 1980 there were still 74,000 teachers for 1.8 million children and young people. This shows that not everything can be explained by the number of teachers.
“I used to be a teacher myself and understand a little more about teaching than a brick does about swimming,” said Kretschmann. He was alluding to the fierce criticism from VBE country chief Brand, who said that after decades in politics, Kretschmann had no idea about everyday school life. “He understands what’s going on in class these days about as much as a brick understands swimming,” Brand said.
