Teacher Shortage in Brandenburg: Thousands of Classes Canceled This School Year

The ongoing teacher shortage in Brandenburg has resulted in significant disruptions to educational services, with a staggering 152,000 lessons, or 2.23% of the planned curriculum, going unfulfilled in the first six months of the current school year. This represents a slight improvement compared to the previous year, where 2.5% of classes were canceled.

Data provided by the Brandenburg Ministry of Education indicates that while the overall rate of lesson cancellations remains high, it has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, which stood at 1.8% during the first half of the 2019-2020 school year. Officials assert that while the issue is serious, it does not constitute a widespread crisis across all schools in the region.

However, specific institutions continue to experience critical shortages, exacerbated by a rise in long-term illnesses among staff and a lack of qualified substitutes. The Ministry's report highlights that in the first half of the 2024-2025 academic year, approximately 929,200 hours were missed due to the absence of trained educators. Fortunately, substitute teachers managed to cover about 774,300 of these hours, accounting for 11.4% of the total.

In comparison, the previous school year saw a greater proportion of missed lessons, with 14.3% of classes left without their designated teachers. Substitutes filled in for nearly 12% of those lost hours.

The substitutes predominantly consist of career changers who lack formal pedagogical training, although the Ministry has also successfully recruited some retired teachers back into the workforce. Additionally, many educators continue to work beyond retirement age to help alleviate the shortage.

The root cause of this deficit can be traced back to a prolonged neglect of local teacher training programs, leading to a scarcity of certified professionals in the area.

In response to the ongoing challenges, the ruling SPD-BSW coalition in Brandenburg has proposed an increase in teaching hours for educators. This measure aims to reduce other non-teaching responsibilities, thereby allowing teachers to focus more on classroom instruction. However, this new mandate will not apply to teachers in special education or those working in schools located in socially disadvantaged areas.