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First graders in Lower Saxony: Numbers are increasing despite the decline in births!
In Lower Saxony, school enrollment numbers will increase in 2025: over 898,000 children will start school, despite declining births.
First graders in Lower Saxony: Numbers are increasing despite the decline in births!
In the new school year 2024/2025, schools in Lower Saxony can look forward to a slight increase in the number of students. Around 898,000 children and young people start their lessons at general schools on Thursday, which represents a positive trend. Around 82,000 first graders will start school this coming Saturday, which means an increase of around 900 compared to last year. This reports NWZonline.
In detail, 81,105 students were registered for school in the current school year, which means an increase of 234 (0.3%) compared to the previous year. At 90.6%, most school enrollments were on time, while 8.6% were late and 0.8% were early. Among the children who had just started school, 51.2% were boys and 48.8% were girls. A total of 881,745 students took part in general education schools in Lower Saxony, which corresponds to an increase of 4,593 students (0.5%), as reported by the Lower Saxony statistics Niedersachsen.de.
Outlook for the future
A look into the future shows that the number of students in Lower Saxony is expected to rise to over one million by 2034, even if the birth rate has fallen. Education Minister Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens) emphasizes that the effects of falling birth rates in primary schools will only be noticeable from 2028. From 2034 onwards, a decline in the total number of pupils is expected.
A constant number of around 220,000 students is currently expected at public vocational schools. The country is also focusing on strengthening multi-professional teams to support teachers, as there are challenging supply problems in some regions and school types.
Need for teachers
In order to do justice to the increasing number of students, an increased number of teachers is essential. Since the beginning of the year, 2,421 teaching positions have been filled, but there is still a persistent shortage of skilled workers. Although the total number of teaching staff has increased since 2020, the situation in the classes remains tense.
In order to further advance schools in Lower Saxony, the Ministry of Culture has launched a new funding program that will support various projects to strengthen democracy education with 450,000 euros in 2025.
By focusing on innovative approaches and responding to the challenges of the future, Lower Saxony can set the course for positive development in the education sector. The next few weeks promise to be exciting, despite numerous challenges.