© dpa
The Senate and four Berlin universities want to tackle the shortage of teachers with a new advertising campaign.
The aim of the campaign presented on Thursday is to attract more students to the so-called STEM fields of mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology. However, young talent is also being sought for the teaching profession at vocational schools and for artistic subjects, as Senator Ina Czyborra (SPD) said.
The "Berlin macht Schule" campaign includes digital poster advertising throughout Berlin and in the subway, radio spots, social media campaigns and a website with lots of information about studying to become a teacher. It also includes an art project: An artist was commissioned to design restrooms at two high schools in Berlin. The costs of the campaign, which will run for several years, amount to 500,000 euros per year.
According to Czyborra, the campaign is primarily aimed at high school students to encourage them to decide to study to become teachers after graduation. However, the aim is also to encourage more university students to switch from research-oriented study courses to teaching-related courses in order to become teachers later on. Young people from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds and with a history of migration make up a special target group.
There is an acute shortage of teachers at Berlin schools, not least in the STEM subjects. And there are not enough graduates from the four Berlin universities that offer teacher training courses. Last year, 1190 student teachers left these universities with a Master's degree. The goal of the senate is 2500 graduates per year.
The Senate and universities have been trying to train more teachers in various ways for some time now. The number of places for first-year students has been steadily increased from 2158 in 2016 to 3470 in 2023. Work is also being done to improve study conditions. However, there are still not enough first-year students: in 2023, 2889 teacher training students began their Bachelor's degree, 1813 the subsequent Master's degree. One problem is that some students drop out of their teacher training course and change direction.
"The just over 1,000 degrees we now have are not enough to cover the demand at our schools," said Czyborra. "That's why our campaign comes into play here." However, the senator sees a positive development in view of the increase in the number of university places and degrees in recent years. "This shows that our commitment is gradually bearing fruit." Berlin is also on the right track in terms of designing the degree course in such a way that it prepares students well for the reality in Berlin schools.