Greifswald's teachers for the future: 100 graduates in the spotlight!

Greifswald's teachers for the future: 100 graduates in the spotlight!

On August 4, 2025, around 100 graduates of the teaching degree programs at the University of Greifswald took the step into their professional future. Among them for the first time were the graduates of the newly established “Primary School Teaching” course, which was launched in October 2020. This course of study aims to meet the challenges of primary school education in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with a research-based concept. The aim is to counteract the acute shortage of teachers at an early stage and in a high-quality manner uni-greifswald.de reported.

At the farewell ceremony, 99 teaching students were honored, including 30 graduates of primary school teaching, 25 graduates of regional school teaching and 44 graduates of high school teaching. In the coming years, many of these graduates will complete a preparatory service at schools, which ends with the second state examination. The professors Dr. Anette Sosna and Dr. Uwe Viole took over the handover of the examination certificates and emphasized the importance of practice-oriented training.

Current challenges in the education sector

Despite the positive news from Greifswald, the situation at German primary schools remains tense. However, a study by the Bertelsmann Foundation gives cause for hope: According to this, the acute shortage of primary school teachers could soon be overcome. The falling birth rates lead to a reduced need for teachers. By 2035, an oversupply of around 45,800 trained teachers is forecast, which opens up the possibility of improving the quality of education. Political decision-makers should use this to deploy teachers for full-time programs and to hire additional staff in socially difficult situations tagesschau.de.

A key point of the study is the decline in birth rates in Germany, which will affect the number of students. While 795,500 births were registered in 2021, this number fell to 738,800 in 2022 and is estimated at 689,300 for 2023. This development will hit the education system more severely from 2028 and thus influence the demand for teachers. However, the forecasts are subject to uncertainty because external shocks such as wars or natural disasters are not included.

Recommendations for improving the teaching situation

The Bertelsmann Foundation recommends focusing attention on three key areas in the coming years. Firstly, a “starting opportunities program” should be used, which aims to support 4,000 schools with a high proportion of socially disadvantaged students from the 2024/2025 school year. Around 2,400 primary schools are affected. The establishment of additional teaching positions is strongly recommended here. Secondly, the planned all-day primary school program, which fully implements the legal right to all-day support for primary school children by 2026, could cover the need for specialists through multi-professional teams. Thirdly, additional qualifications for teachers in grades five and six are recommended in order to actively combat the shortage of teachers here as well bertelsmann-stiftung.de describes.

Another aspect addresses the role of career changers in teacher training. Dirk Zorn predicts that these will continue to be needed in certain areas in the future, especially in regions with a significant shortage of teachers. Overall, the degree programs completed at the University of Greifswald show that the efforts to actively address the shortage of teachers are already beginning to bear fruit, while a society-wide view of the future challenges in the education sector remains essential.