Thuringia is examining changes to teacher bonuses in the fight against teacher shortages

In order to combat teacher shortages in certain subjects and regions, the Ministry of Education is considering changes to supplements. “Recruiting personnel remains challenging – in subjects and regions where there is a need, as well as in certain types of schools,” said Education Minister Christian Tischner (CDU) to the German Press Agency. It is undisputed that there should continue to be bonuses for teachers in Thuringia. The circumstances under which supplements would be granted would be examined. The fact that Thuringia pays additional money to certain teachers has been controversial for a long time.

“We need the surcharges in order to be able to compete for skilled workers,” said Tischner. Any instrument that can enable targeted control and a better regional distribution of teaching staff is helpful. “It is important that the rules are fair, transparent and designed to meet needs.” The awards would therefore be subject to “continuous professional review and further development,” said Tischner.

There are currently two options for teachers or teacher trainees to receive supplements that are paid in addition to the remuneration to which they are entitled.

Two variants for surcharges

According to the Ministry of Education, fully trained teachers can receive ten percent of the starting salary in their salary class as a supplement for a period of five years. The prerequisite for this is that they teach in a subject, a region or a type of school in which there is a particular shortage of teachers. The ministry speaks of “need” in this context. Two of these three categories must be met in order for the surcharge to be paid.

Candidate teachers are entitled to a supplement of 70 percent of the candidate's basic salary if they teach in a region or subject in need. According to the ministry, all subjects taught in mainstream schools are considered to be insufficient subjects. The regions in need are primarily in rural areas.

Bonuses for teachers are controversial

The Thuringian Teachers' Association in particular had repeatedly criticized the granting of allowances for certain teachers in the past. In teachers' rooms, it always leads to controversy when some receive bonuses while long-time educators cannot receive such payments, even though they have kept schools running for years, especially in rural areas, the association's chairman Tim Reukauf argued again and again. The granting of subsidies sometimes even leads to jealous debates at schools.

The Ministry of Education did not state how much money and supplements have been paid to teachers in Thuringia so far.