So the child fell into the well. In the proverbial sense, of course, but this proverb perhaps fits particularly well with regard to school as a place of life. In order to protect children and get them fit for life, you need good concepts, good curricula, but above all enough teachers who want to do it and have the time for it. And even if there are many teachers who have chosen their profession out of conviction, a little recognition would not hurt.
Teachers’ and parents’ associations have been warning for a long time that there will be bottlenecks in primary and secondary schools because of the lack of young people. The fact that there are also problems at the top of the career ladder is not only due to Corona, but also shows another weakness in our school system.
More than 65 rectors in Bavaria asked for their dismissal in 2021, as listed by the Bavarian Teachers’ Association. And once positions are vacant, the search for successors becomes increasingly difficult under the current conditions.
Is that a miracle? No it is not. Headmasters are busy around the clock to keep their schools running, quarantines here, series of tests there, instructions from the ministry that are one way at the beginning of the week and different at the end, letters to parents that just have to go out over the weekend , regulations where they are not needed, lack of support – for example air purifiers – where they are needed. Which masks do children have to wear right now? And which ones aren’t allowed? Who is even allowed to go to school? Who controls all this? Can contact students be sent home? Do they even have to? And who orders that? The school? The health department? The pope? And how exactly do you explain all this to the parents?
No, it’s no wonder principals run out of breath. And it is also not the case that this is the case, above all, with the heads of elementary schools, who earn only slightly more than their teaching staff, who are already paid far less than those at secondary schools, who usually have a much smaller management team than, for example, a grammar school headmaster, where the work can be distributed. Who have far too small a quota of credit hours because, in addition to all the administrative work and the corona madness, they also have to lead classes.
Not that more money buys more time or better nerves, but, well, it would help a little. Once again, the Bavarian state government rejected an increase in the salary of primary school teachers from A12 to A13 last autumn – in contrast to many other federal states. For the starting salary alone, this classification means about 700 euros less for primary school teachers compared to their high school colleagues. Why? Is their responsibility any less? Are they doing less important work? Ironically, those who take care of the smallest and most worthy of protection in society? Hardly likely.
Time to finally cover the well.