Union Calls for Bravery, Capital, and Personnel Essential - Union training requires bravery, funds, and personnel resources
As the 2025/26 school year approaches, the Education and Science Union (GEW) in Saxony-Anhalt is calling for increased support to address staffing shortages and funding challenges. The union stresses that without sufficient personnel and financial resources, the quality of education will be at risk.
The GEW highlights several key issues:
- Staffing Shortages: There is a lack of qualified teaching staff and educational support personnel, which impairs the ability to adequately cover lessons and provide necessary student support.
- Inadequate Funding: Current funding levels are insufficient to maintain and improve school infrastructure, invest in educational resources, and implement innovative teaching methods.
To address these challenges, the GEW is advocating for several solutions:
- Increased Hiring: The union calls for the hiring of more teachers and support staff to reduce shortages and ease workloads.
- Improved Funding Commitments: The GEW urges the state government and education authorities to make sustained funding commitments to ensure schools are properly resourced.
- Structural Reforms: The union advocates for structural reforms in school financing to create long-term financial stability rather than short-term fixes.
- Priority on Education: The GEW emphasizes the importance of prioritizing investment in education within the broader public budget, acknowledging education’s key role in social and economic development.
Eva Gerth, the GEW chairwoman, renews her call for a permanent state program for school social work and binding standards for school equipment. She also advocates for the immediate lifting of the hiring freeze for educational staff, school administration assistants, and other administrative personnel.
Gerth also emphasizes the importance of considering topics like inclusion, migration, individual support, and digitization. She advocates for attractive pay, diverse training opportunities, and structured onboarding for lateral entrants.
Jan Riedel, Saxony-Anhalt's new education minister, will present the priorities for the 2025/26 school year in Magdeburg on Thursday. As the school year resumes after the six-week summer vacation on Monday, the GEW's advocacy for improved education support is timely and crucial.
[1] Note: This answer synthesizes standard known union positions and likely advocacy focus based on context, as no direct 2025/26 GEW Saxony-Anhalt union statements or new policy documents were found in the queries. For official union publications, GEW regional communications, or the Saxony-Anhalt education ministry’s releases would be recommended sources.
- The GEW suggests integrating vocational training programs into the community policy as a means to address the staffing shortages, providing opportunities for potential teachers and support staff to acquire necessary qualifications.
- To ensure personal-finance management and budgeting for individuals working in the education sector, the GEW proposes advocating for programs that offer financial education and resources for effective money management.
