training
The shortage of teaching staff is great everywhere, but especially in Vorarlberg. Lateral entrants should now remedy the situation: Applicants with subject-related studies should now be able to teach with full salaries and without a special contract, said Minister of Education Martin Polaschek during his visit to Vorarlberg on Monday.
Minister of Education Martin Polaschek visited the federal high school in Dornbirn-Schoren on Monday. There, too, the shortage of teachers was discussed, and there are still 15 full-time positions to be filled in elementary and secondary schools by next fall. The minister said he was keeping an eye on the issue: “We can use this to catch some – a small part – but something,” explains Polaschek.
But there are also intensive discussions, also with the education officers on site, with the education administration and with universities and colleges of education, about what other measures can be taken.
What to do about teacher shortage
The summer holidays are just around the corner, but the personnel managers for the teachers are not talking about relaxation. There is a lack of teachers for the new school year. The union calls for action to be taken quickly. The Minister of Education, who was in Vorarlberg on Monday, relies on career changers.
Criticism of teacher training for a long time
Teacher training has long been the subject of criticism, especially the four to five-year course for primary school teachers. Education Minister Barbara Schöbi-Fink (ÖVP) is therefore in favor of shortening the bachelor’s degree: “We must not forget that we are in a particularly competitive situation here in Vorarlberg. St. Gallen – i.e. Switzerland – offers a three-year teacher training course, and it’s similar in Germany too.”
Polaschek, on the other hand, emphasizes that one must first weigh up what speaks for and against, because: “Pedagogue training was fundamentally reformed less than ten years ago”. A reduction in the law would require a change in the law, and it should not be forgotten that this would also take time.
There are still unfilled teaching positions
There are currently 15 full-time positions open at Vorarlberg’s primary and secondary schools. In elementary schools in particular, the position in charge of classes is particularly important, and there are still five positions to be filled in this area.
“That’s better than three weeks ago. This is a dynamic process and this process accompanies us until we start school. The education department works with full vigour, because every class that doesn’t have a class leader hurts us,” said Schöbi-Fink.