Thuringia: Holter: Land still needs teachers who are newcomers

In Thuringia, biology and physics classes are taught by academics without a pedagogical qualification. Without these lateral entrants, the shortage of staff in schools would be even greater.

Erfurt (dpa/th) – For the next few years, the Thuringian Ministry of Education expects a further slight increase in the number of lateral entrants into the teaching profession. “In order to secure the teaching, the country is urgently dependent on both trained teachers and otherwise trained people who want to switch to teaching,” said department head Helmut Holter (left) of the German Press Agency. Among other things, as a result of the state’s teacher recruitment campaign, there will tend to be an increasing number of lateral entrants at the schools.

As a rule, lateral entrants in the teaching profession have not undergone classic teacher training, but have an academic degree in a specific subject such as physics or biology. Pedagogical knowledge that they need for teaching will be imparted to them afterwards.

According to data from the ministry, a total of 126 lateral entrants had been hired in the 2021/22 school year alone by February 1st. More recent figures are not available at the moment. Most of them were used in regular schools or vocational schools. Only 13 went to high school. This coincides with the experience of hiring junior teachers in recent years, according to which there is still a comparatively large number of applicants, especially for vacancies at grammar schools.

According to the data, the school authorities in the south and east of the country in particular have recently had to rely on lateral entrants in order to be able to fill as many vacancies as possible. The ministry was unable to provide any information on how many hired side entrants have resigned or been resigned.

According to the ministry, around 700 teachers were employed in the school year 2021/22 by February 1st. According to Holter, bureaucratic hurdles should be removed and their subsequent pedagogical qualifications improved for the further recruitment of lateral entrants. “We’ve made a lot of progress there – the figures and many good experiences show it.” Nevertheless, the applicants would have to meet certain standards and observe the regulations of the public service.