In March 2023, the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany [www.kmk.org] (Kultusministerkonferenz) agreed on further measures in response to the need for teachers. In the joint declaration, the Länder reaffirmed their close cooperation to date and agreed on the following measures, among others, as a further response to the demand for teachers: 

• Increasing the attractiveness and esteem of the teaching profession in society. 
• Maintaining sufficient capacities at teacher training institutions and for the preparatory service to meet the demand in the respective Länder. In accordance with the Länder agreement on the common basic structure of the school system and the responsibility of the Länder as a whole in central education policy issues, it is the responsibility of the respective Land to ensure a sufficient number of teachers for its own teaching supply. 
• The Länder, together with their universities, shall further develop teacher training courses in line with demand. 
• The Länder call on the Federal Government to take up negotiations on the continuation of the Quality Initiative for Teacher Education in the Joint Science Conference [www.gwk-bonn.de] (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – GWK) as part of its overall responsibility. 
• The Länder shall facilitate the entry into the teaching profession of so-called “lateral entrants” (Quereinsteiger) from other courses of study or with other degrees. 
• The Länder shall provide the so-called “lateral entrants” with appropriate qualifications. The Länder will develop common standards for qualification. 
• In addition to the procedural optimisations already implemented, the Länder are examining the possibility of employing teachers with only one teaching subject, which is already common practice in other countries. 
• The Länder will examine ways of improving the recognition procedure for qualifications obtained abroad and for more rapidly qualifying international applicants with foreign qualifications for the teaching profession. 
• In particular, the Länder will examine the recommendations of the Standing Scientific Commission [https://www.kmk.org/kmk/staendige-wissenschaftliche-kommission.html] (Ständige Wissenschaftliche Kommission – SWK), which focus on exploiting the potential of qualified teachers. 
• The Länder will continue efforts to relieve teachers of organisational and administrative tasks. 

More information: 

https://www.kmk.org/de/presse/pressearchiv/mitteilung/kmk-verabredet-weitere-massnahmen-als-reaktion-auf-den-lehrkraeftebedarf.html 

Source: Eurydice Unit Germany