School start in Lower Saxony: More teachers, but big challenges remain!

School start in Lower Saxony: More teachers, but big challenges remain!

A new school year starts today in Lower Saxony for around 898,000 students at general schools. This is the beginning of an exciting time for many children, as around 82,000 of them are starting school - an increase of around 900 compared to the previous year. This information has NDR published.

The Minister of Education, Julia Willie Hamburg, is optimistic and is pleased about the number of newly employed teachers. So far, a total of 1,600 teaching positions have been advertised for the first half of the school year, of which 1,411 have already been filled. This corresponds to an occupancy rate of 88 percent. For comparison: last year the rate was 83 percent. This development highlights that new hires are outpacing teachers leaving, but the skills shortage remains a challenge, the reports show.

**Increasing student numbers and challenges**

The number of students is expected to continue to rise. By 2034, the number of students in Lower Saxony could increase by up to 10 percent to more than one million. However, the falling birth rates that affect primary schools will only become noticeable from 2028 onwards. This year, the teaching provision in Lower Saxony is running under stable conditions, it is at 96.9 percent Lower Saxony state government reported.

However, there are major regional differences, particularly in rural areas where the staffing shortage is particularly noticeable. The education union GEW also warns of thousands of missing teachers and reports that many teachers are working to the limit. Trainee teachers also criticize that they are not offered enough practical experience during their studies.

**Requirements are increasing**

While the number of students increases, the quality standards in schools should also be increased. New challenges such as inclusion, all-day schools and language support require more teachers and resources. This is a point that Hamburg's Minister of Education also addresses when she talks about stabilizing the provision of lessons as demands grow. The teacher-student ratio has improved slightly; In 2024 it was 1.69 teacher hours per student. The calculated target value is 1.74 hours - a value that shows that the need for teaching staff is still high.

**School policy and need for reform**

School policy in Lower Saxony is viewed critically from various sides. The CDU member of the state parliament Christian Fühner criticizes the high level of lesson cancellations and calls for a rethink in education policy. The AfD is in favor of a reform of teacher training and calls for all-day schools to only be run upon application. The State Student Council, on the other hand, would like to achieve a fairer distribution of teachers between school types.

Overall, the developments show that the schools in Lower Saxony are facing major challenges, but at the same time are trying to respond to the increasing number of students and the associated quality demands. According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education The teacher demand forecasts are updated annually and offer valuable insights into the necessary development of teacher training.

It remains to be hoped that the new positions and the targeted reforms in teacher training will bear fruit in order to meet the current and future challenges in school education in Lower Saxony.