Funds to Increase for Teacher Overtime Pay, Announces Minister of Cultural Affairs - Education Minister Allocates Additional Funds for Teachers' Excess Hours Compensation
In the cities of Dresden and Chemnitz, the education landscape is set to undergo significant changes as Saxony's Minister of Education, Conrad Clemens (CDU), aims to improve teaching supply. This comes after concerns raised by Burkhard Naumann, chairman of GEW Saxony, at the start of the school year.
The Saxon State Audit Office had previously criticized the rising costs of additional teaching hours since 2017. Specifically, they pointed out that overtime hours (MAU hours) do not secure teaching supply, a point that GEW rejected.
However, in 2021, it was announced that the compensation for MAU hours for teachers would be significantly increased. Schools were provided with nearly double the financial resources to appropriately honour the work of teachers, reflecting the appreciation of their work and aiming to improve the financial recognition of these additional hours.
Despite no new information about increased compensation for overtime hours or additional funds for teaching hours being provided at that time, the criticism from the Saxon State Audit Office, made in June, highlighted the need for action. The absence of teaching hours increased by around two-thirds during the same period.
In response, more funds will be made available for additional teaching hours. This is expected to alleviate the teaching hour shortage, with teachers from other types of schools being deployed to secondary schools to help meet the demand.
The Education and Science Union (GEW) in Saxony has welcomed Minister Clemens' announcement as a "course correction." Clemens expects noticeable improvement in teaching supply this school year, and approximately 11.2 million euros are currently planned for MAU hours in the 2025 budget.
These developments are a positive step towards ensuring a more stable and sustainable teaching environment in Saxony's schools.
