Wiesbaden (dpa / lhe) – The education union GEW in Hesse has called for a vaccination strategy for the teaching staff from the state. “The issue of booster vaccinations for staff at schools should be taken in hand by the state government,” said the chairman of the Education and Science Union (GEW), Thilo Hartmann. He referred to the special needs in schools, where many people work together in a confined space.

“The country must not be surprised by the spread of the Omikron variant,” warned Hartmann. With a rate of around 95 percent, the teaching staff shows an above-average willingness to vaccinate. Hartmann assumed that central collective appointments would be well attended.

“I welcome the new campaign by the Ministry of Culture to attract young people to the teaching profession,” said the union chief. But it takes more effort than a movie, he said. Among other things, Hartmann is demanding more places for studies and legal clerkship. The Hessian Ministry of Culture recently started a campaign to advertise the teaching profession. Various short films are shown in cinemas, among other things.

“Hessian teachers have a lot of compulsory lessons with a relatively low salary,” said Hartmann, referring to other federal states. In addition, there is the massive shortage of teachers. Taking into account the future legal entitlement to a full-day place, there was a shortage of 8,000 teaching positions in Hesse. “If you add smaller classes and successful inclusion, the need should increase by at least another 5,000 teachers,” explained Hartmann. “The shortage in Hessen amounts to at least 13,000 missing teachers.”

The corona pandemic has exacerbated the problems in schools with the high workload, criticized the unionist. In the colleges he experiences that teachers from the Ministry of Culture feel left alone. Teachers feel there is “no way out” https://www.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/. “That worries me very much,” said Hartmann. He feared increasing numbers of mental health problems and sick leave.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211228-99-520784 / 2