Brandenburg hopes higher teacher pay will attract staff from other states

Brandenburg's Education Minister Gordon Hoffmann is optimistic that recent salary increases for teachers will draw educators from other German states to the region. The state is grappling with a severe teacher shortage that threatens the upcoming school year, potentially leading to class mergers and an inability to cover all required teaching hours.

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I have the hope that with the improved pay, the attractiveness of the teaching profession in Brandenburg will also increase.

"I have the hope that with the improved pay, the attractiveness of the teaching profession in Brandenburg will also increase," Hoffmann told the German Press Agency. He noted that following a Federal Constitutional Court ruling, salaries have "in part increased very significantly." Hoffmann pointed out that some German states can no longer hire all their graduates because their positions are filled and student numbers are declining.

"There, I have the hope that many a teacher from other states will look at the salary tables and want to come to Brandenburg," the minister added. To combat the shortage, the governing SPD and CDU parties plan to create an additional 250 teaching positions. This initiative follows a decision by the previous SPD/BSW coalition to reduce teaching staff by 345 full-time equivalent positions for cost-saving reasons.

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In part increased very significantly.

In exchange for the higher salaries for civil servant teachers, their weekly working hours will increase from 40 to 41. However, teachers will not face an additional mandatory teaching hour, as they already had one extra hour per week implemented in the second half of the previous school year due to budget cuts.

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There, I have the hope that many a teacher from other states will look at the salary tables and want to come to Brandenburg.