Suddenly a teacher, suddenly a teacher!
Many schools had difficulty filling vacancies for the new school year. In some places, people with little or no pedagogical training had to be recruited on an emergency basis. What does this mean for the quality of teaching?
The high quality of public schools is a cornerstone and a historical achievement of Switzerland. It is of central importance for democratic coexistence and the economic centre. Parents should therefore be able to trust that their children will receive a high-quality education regardless of where they live and who teaches them.
Precarious situation
However, it is currently difficult to find qualified teachers. In almost all cantons, it is very difficult to fill vacancies for teachers in the current school year, particularly at primary level. On the one hand, this is due to the general shortage of skilled labour and, on the other hand, also has specific causes.
Demographic reasons
One important reason is the demographic trend. The baby boomer generation will be retiring in the next few years. At the same time, very high birth cohorts will be entering the school system in the near future; around 120,000 additional pupils over the next ten years. A historic high.
These two developments have been documented by the Federal Statistical Office for years and could have been foreseen and therefore planned for in the long term. The professional associations of teachers, the associations of school headmasters and the Swiss Education Report have been warning of this smouldering problem for years.
Concealed problems
Nevertheless, many cantonal education authorities have long denied that there is a structural staff shortage in schools. At the beginning of each new school year, the school authorities proudly announced that all positions had been filled.
Public schools are gradually deteriorating.
However, the important question from the point of view of pupils, parents and professional organisations is: who was appointed to fill these positions? It is not just a question of a quantitative shortage of staff, but also a qualitative one.
Directors of education are now finally admitting publicly that there is an acute shortage of staff in schools. However, this is a belated admission after the problem has been concealed for years.
Various emergency measures
At the moment, school authorities are coming up with all kinds of emergency measures. Lateral entry programmes are being expanded, retired teachers are being recalled, students at teacher training colleges are being employed full-time even before completing their basic studies, some teachers are teaching subjects or levels for which they have not been trained, class sizes are being increased, teacher training colleges are offering shortened training courses and people without teaching qualifications are being hired.
Eliminate structural deficiencies
However, these emergency measures only serve to combat symptoms at best, as the causes are of a structural nature:
- It is no coincidence that most primary school positions are difficult to fill. Although the broadest development and integration work with the maximum variety of different potentials and challenges on the part of the children is carried out in the first cycles, salaries are significantly lower than at secondary level.
- The deterioration of public schools is a gradual process and can hardly be observed directly. If the railway or an airline lacks qualified staff, trains or flights are cancelled. This is clearly noticeable and leads to calls for measures. Schools do not have this option. It has to take place. Someone leads the class on the first day of school. However, if no one applies for advertised positions, they have to be filled on an emergency basis. Some of these short-term employees prove themselves in the classroom. From the children's point of view, this is pleasing, but it gives the impression that the teaching profession can't be that demanding. This undermines the demands placed on fully qualified teachers. It also overlooks the increased burden on school teams, who are forced to train their inexperienced new colleagues «on the job» in addition to their own teaching commitments.
- Some politicians are proposing minimum workloads for teachers as a solution to the problem. In the canton of Geneva, for example, there are only jobs with a workload of 50 per cent or more. However, setting a minimum level of employment overlooks the many reasons why many teachers work part-time. These range from balancing family and career to self-protection against burnout. Appropriate accompanying measures are needed to enable teachers to take on larger workloads.
Cooperation between parents and teachers
Teachers and parents must work together to ensure that the responsible education policymakers are committed to creating modern and attractive working and employment conditions for teachers so that suitable and motivated people want to become teachers and remain in the profession in the long term. The authorities must not shirk their responsibility by reducing the quality requirements but refraining from making the necessary investments.
The authorities must not shirk their responsibilities by reducing quality requirements but foregoing the necessary investments.
The LCH professional association welcomes measures that increase the attractiveness of the profession and maintain the quality of public schools. Teaching is a demanding profession that requires thorough training.
People who have only received a shortened or no pedagogical training at all can hardly fulfil the high requirements. They must be adequately supported and re-qualified. Emergency measures must be temporary; they will not be able to permanently remedy structural shortcomings. All stakeholders need to work together to ensure that all children are taught by qualified teachers who promote their individual potential and instil a lifelong love of learning.
