Before Thursday’s education ministers’ conference, Maike Finnern, chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW), warned that the move to stop permanently hiring teachers as civil servants could be the end of teaching appointments. She said that the proposal by Saxony’s education minister, Conrad Clemens (CDU), to halt the civil‑service status for teachers aimed “to pit employment groups against one another and to split up teacher cohorts”. “This debate is being fought on the teachers’ backs. It sows fear and uncertainty” she told the “Rheinische Post”.
“Given the severe teacher shortage in Germany, this initiative is completely untimely” Finnern added. “It sends the wrong signal to young people who are choosing a career or are currently studying to become teachers. The civil‑service appointment is an important factor that makes the profession attractive”.
Minister Clemens had earlier argued that the civil‑service status for teachers is a relic of the past. At this week’s conference he plans to propose that from 2030 no teachers will be granted permanent civil‑service positions, thereby ending the current system.