The summer holidays are almost over, the new school year 2022/23 starts on Tuesday. It won’t be a really normal one for the schools in the Munich district this year either. Rather, it is important to integrate the Ukrainian children who fled the war in their homeland well into school, to prepare for a possible new wave of corona infections in autumn and to compensate for possible learning deficits. And that with a staff cover that is largely sewn to the edge. There are enough imponderables. Despite these major challenges, the school administrations consider themselves to be well prepared overall. But it is a tour de force.
Education of Ukrainian children
According to the director of the school board, Ulrich Barth, around 1,000 children and young people from Ukraine are currently registered at the schools in the district for the new school year. 540 children are expected in the 34 bridge classes that are formed at the secondary schools in the district – at 13 high schools, four junior high schools and nine middle schools, with around 460 at the elementary schools.
At the elementary schools, the children attend regular classes and also receive German lessons. The Neubiberg elementary school had already taken in twelve Ukrainian children last school year, and no more are currently registered. Rector Susanne Sieben expects more children in autumn, when the container village on the former runway with space for up to 400 refugees from Ukraine is completed in October. Even if she doesn’t know how many more children will be added, the headmistress is in good spirits: “I have the district office and the school authority’s promise that the students will be divided fairly between my schools and the surrounding schools”. Overall, she exudes confidence. “We have a plan,” says Sieben. This includes the fact that she was able to recruit a native Ukrainian from the area who speaks Ukrainian and German fluently. She has signed an employment contract with the government of Upper Bavaria for 15 hours and will learn German with the children and also support them in other ways. In addition, based on a joint idea with the local Asylum Helpers’ Group, Sieben has recruited twelve seniors via the senior citizens’ center who will, among other things, practice reading with the children.
At the Josef-Breher-Mittelschule in Pullach, you are also confronted with a certain degree of uncertainty, but you are still quite well prepared. A little more than 20 children and young people will probably be taught there in a bridging class, so to speak the successor to the welcome group that was formed there in March. “It will be a surprise how many come,” says headmaster Harun Lehrer. An additional teacher has been assigned to the school for the compulsory lessons in math, German and English. According to school director Barth, these people in the bridge classes are often Ukrainians who have taught German in their home country, or people who have studied a subject that is related to school, such as German studies. Rector teacher likes the concept that, unlike in 2016, when many refugees came from Syria and Afghanistan, this time “all types of schools are involved”. He, who also teaches German as a second language, sees it as a “double-edged sword” whether it would be better to place the young people in regular classes. Although the “language bath” that the children take among German students in the regular class is very helpful, there is an educational language at school so that they can get along in class at all. “So it’s good to focus on the German language first,” he says. In addition, the transition to regular classes and other types of school is fluid. They had already let students switch who could speak English particularly well and were very clever. “You always have to start with the child,” he says.
At the Johann-Andreas-Schmeller-Realschule in Ismaning, a Ukrainian teacher will also be in charge of the bridging class, while the other core lessons are covered by the teachers from the regular college. Where possible, the Ukrainian children should be integrated into regular classes according to their age. At the Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium in Garching, in some of the later classes there are sponsors from school groups who speak Russian or Ukrainian themselves and are supposed to make it easier for the children to settle in. The Ukrainian children should also be out and about together with their German-speaking peers on hiking days and other events. Finding the teachers to teach the currently 16 Ukrainian children in the bridge class – the number of which is likely to increase rapidly when they move into the planned accommodation in Garching – was “not that easy,” says headmaster Armin Eifertinger. The grammar school has been trying since mid-July and has now gained 30 new colleagues at the beginning of the school year; almost half of them are young students from various disciplines. These are a support, but of course they need some support from the experienced colleagues themselves in order to be able to take on lessons. “Of course, that’s a bigger burden for our staff,” says Eifertinger.
corona pandemic
The schools themselves are not afraid of a possible next corona wave in autumn. “We have now experienced so many aggregate states of the pandemic that I think we are prepared for everything,” says headmaster Stefan Ambrosi from the Realschule Ismaning. Each school has adapted its hygiene measures individually. Currently there is neither a test nor a mask obligation. According to headmistress Sieben, a large part of the teaching staff at the Neubiberg elementary school, including her, will still wear a mouth and nose cover. Also thanks to the mobile air cleaning devices, which the municipality purchased early on for all rooms in the school, Sieben feels “absolutely well prepared” for a possible further wave. Should digital lessons become necessary, the headmistress sees her school, which was already pushing ahead with digitization before the pandemic, in an excellent position.
The Pullach middle school principal teacher is also not worried about the pandemic. The structures that have been set up, such as how digital teaching works, will be “celebrated again” when school starts, he says. Some teachers, including him, would “lead by example” and wear masks. If there are new guidelines from the Ministry of Education, they will also be implemented at short notice. Teachers no longer want only distance learning and too many infections at school. “It’s always a tearing away from the daily lessons,” he says. Pupils and teachers in Pullach and Ismaning can test themselves on a voluntary basis with self-tests that the schools still have in stock. This also stimulates the Garching high school for the first two weeks of school. In the medium term, headmaster Eifertinger in Garching also wants to organize a vaccination offer for the teaching staff again.
learning deficits
The time of the lockdowns is over, but learning deficits will still be an issue this school year. According to Rector Sieben, the Neubiberg elementary school has already done a lot of work, but there should be bridging offers, i.e. intensification in certain subjects if necessary, via a supporting teacher. Approval for the teacher is still pending from the government of Upper Bavaria, but Sieben is confident. Learning gaps among students are also an issue at the Pullach Middle School. Therefore, the head teacher hopes that there will no longer be distance learning: “The learning deficits are getting bigger and bigger, it becomes more and more difficult to catch them.”
The students of the Werner-Heisenberg-Gymnasium, who are still struggling with larger gaps, will receive specific support courses in the afternoon, Eifertinger announces. The school has also introduced a mentoring system during the pandemic, with students from higher grades helping fifth and sixth graders with their studies. Secondary school director Ambrosi from Ismaning is less concerned about the content of learning deficits, but about the social-emotional area. Here, he observes, the young people from the past two years lack group experiences and community experiences. It is therefore important that schools offer more offers such as excursions or working groups.
teacher shortage
But there lies the crux of the matter. Because there is a shortage of teachers in Bavaria. The Bavarian Teachers’ Association (BLLV) repeatedly sharply criticizes the fact that – as happened in Lower Bavaria – hours such as sport have to be cut back and valuable additional offers such as language support have to be cut in order to be able to maintain the core lessons. The situation in the district of Munich is not that dramatic, but here too the school administrations feel that the staffing level is thin.
The school authority is aware of this and is trying to recruit additional teachers. Interested parties can apply via an application portal of the Ministry of Education, and the school authority will then contact them. In the past few weeks, “we have hired numerous additional teachers,” says school board director Barth. These are often student teachers, but also people who have studied a subject related to school. The requirement of the Ministry of Education that pregnant women are not allowed to be used in face-to-face classes because of the pandemic also plays a role. “As a result, numerous people are absent,” confirms Barth. At the Garching high school alone, nine teachers are currently pregnant; they can prepare their lessons, but an additional team teacher is needed to lead them. “In the end, the entire lesson is covered, but you can sense a certain dissatisfaction with the situation,” says headmaster Eifertinger. That’s why he doesn’t want to complain: “We just have to make sure that we create the conditions in such a way that learning is possible as well as possible.”
The other schools are also coming to terms with the suboptimal staffing situation. “We don’t draw from the full, but we can cover the compulsory lessons,” says the Pullach middle school principal teacher. Some of this is made possible by the voluntary commitment of the teachers. He and a colleague offer a mountain bike club, for example. Elementary school principal Sieben is frugal. “I get by with the staff I have,” she says. Nothing needs to be deleted. The ceiling is also thin at Stefan Ambrosi’s secondary school, “but it’s okay at the moment,” he explains. The headmaster is rather depressed that there are currently so few trainee teachers. “The teaching profession is obviously not that popular at the moment,” says Ambrosi. He can’t really understand that: “For me, teaching is still the best job.” But even in Ismaning you can feel a certain fluctuation in the staff. One reason for this is the high cost of living in the region – which is becoming increasingly difficult to cover with a teacher’s salary. The BLLV has therefore long been calling for fair salaries for all types of schools. Despite all the good preparation, one thing seems clear in the district of Munich: “If someone drops out, things will get tight,” says Eifertinger.