Hundreds of Berlin teachers permanently absent due to illness

If an affected person can no longer work as a teacher but can take on other tasks, "an assignment in the professional reorientation project can be carried out through amtsangemessene anderweitige Verwendung." This is stated in the quoted Senate response, which was picked up by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur, RBB, and the Berliner Morgenpost.

The Senate Administration does not provide exact case numbers in the available response. The administration's information only indicates that it concerns several hundred individuals who no longer teach at schools. According to statistical data, Berlin has around 35,000 teachers in the school system.

The districts record the sickness rates of their teachers through the State Office for Health and Social Affairs. The cases in which employees can no longer be deployed in the classroom are documented there. In such cases, the Senate Administration refers to the reorientation project as an instrument to retain those affected in the public service.

Impact on Schools

The permanent absences come on top of an already strained personnel market: Berlin had previously had difficulties recruiting sufficient qualified teachers. The loss of hundreds of teachers worsens the situation at schools and leads to more classes being canceled or covered by substitute teachers.

SPD member of parliament Alexander King had requested the data on permanently ill teachers from the Senate Administration. With the response, public information on the phenomenon is now available for the first time, having previously only appeared in internal statistics. King assesses the development as worrying.

The Berliner Morgenpost and RBB had previously reported on similar cases in the districts of Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Spandau, and Tempelhof-Schöneberg. In these districts, it had been noticed that an above-average number of teachers were on long-term sick leave and did not return to the classroom.

Background and Demands

The Senate Administration announced that it would continue to expand the professional reorientation project. The aim is to offer those affected a perspective within the public service while at the same time limiting the costs of long-term sick leave. At the same time, the Senate continues to seek ways to attract new teachers to Berlin.

Teacher associations have repeatedly pointed to the burdens in everyday school life. Large class sizes, additional bureaucratic tasks, and a growing proportion of students in need of integration are considered possible triggers for the increase in permanent illnesses.

The opposition in the House of Representatives is calling for a systematic evaluation of the causes of illness. Only in this way, according to circles within the parliament, can it be determined which schools are particularly affected and which measures for the prevention and support of teachers could take effect.

Education experts warn that the absences can hardly be compensated for in the short term. As long as not enough new teachers can be trained or recruited from other federal states, the professional reorientation project remains only a stopgap for those affected.

The Senate Administration intends to continue evaluating the progress of the reorientation project in the coming months. This will also include an examination of how many of the reassigned teachers remain in the public service in the long term and what specific tasks they take on.

The opposition announced a further questioning of the Senate Administration in the Education Committee. The aim is to disclose the exact figures, the distribution across the districts, and the backgrounds of the illnesses.

The development underscores the structural problems of the Berlin school system: Overburdened teachers, high sickness rates, and a chronic personnel shortage come together and jeopardize the provision of teaching.