Brandenburg schools welcome an increasing number of new students this academic year
Getting More Teachers to Meet Demand: Lateral Entrants on the Rise in Brandenburg Schools
Looking to address the growing teacher shortage, Brandenburg has upped its intake of lateral entrants. In the upcoming academic year, this number stands at a whopping 4,500, equating to around 20.3% of the state's total teachers, way above the national average.
In the previous school year, the number of lateral entrants was 3,820, accounting for 17.7% of all teachers. Compared to the year before that with 3,222 lateral entrants (15.4% of the teaching force), the increase is unmistakable. However, these figures vary regionally, with the share of lateral entrants being lower in areas near Berlin and higher in rural regions.
Teacher Shortage: A National Issue
Brandenburg isn't alone in grappling with this teacher shortage issue. In response, schools nationwide are increasingly relying on lateral and lateral entrants to mitigate the gap. As per the Federal Statistical Office, around 10.5% of teachers in general schools didn't have a recognized teaching degree in the 2023/24 school year, translating to approximately 77,600 out of the total 739,500 teachers at the time. In the 2022/23 school year, this figure was still 9.8%.
Regional Differences and Trends
While the education system in Brandenburg is comparable to other parts of Germany, with primary education covering grades 1 through 6 and secondary education divided into lower and upper levels, specific data on lateral entrants due to teacher shortages is not readily available. However, regional differences can occur based on local policies and demographic changes, as is the case with Berlin and Brandenburg, which have a slightly different structure for primary education that could impact lateral entry trends.
Education structures can vary across Germany, with one example being the Wangari-Maathai Schule in Berlin, offering bilingual education and providing provisions for lateral entry for international students. This might indicate an added level of flexibility in dealing with diverse student populations.
For a deeper understanding of the impact of teacher shortages on lateral entrants in Brandenburg schools, more specific data or studies would be essential.
The nationwide teacher shortage is leading schools to rely more on lateral entrants, such as those entering the field without traditional teaching degrees, to help bridge the gap, as seen by the 10.5% of teachers in general schools without a recognized teaching degree in the 2023/24 school year. Despite regional variations, the dramatic increase in lateral entrants in Brandenburg schools indicates a greater focus on education-and-self-development, politics, and general-news related to this issue, with the upcoming academic year seeing a record 4,500 lateral entrants, making up around 20.3% of the state's total teachers.
