Vocational educational institutions are suffering a severe shortage of teachers. To counteract this skills bottleneck, the TÜV SÜD Foundation is supporting a new project for career changers as part of the Zukunftsmission Bildung educational programme of the Stifterverband organisation.
A key priority of the programme is to broaden access to teacher training studies for people that already have professional experience under their belt. To achieve this, the University of Flensburg and TU Berlin are offering extended Deutschlandstipendium grants that support students for two years with a monthly payment of EUR 450. The aim is to create an incentive that attracts more specialists to the field of vocational-school teacher training and alleviates the risk of students dropping out due to financial constraints.
The support scheme builds on previous successes in this area by the TÜV SÜD Foundation in Bavaria. It now aims to attract new target groups in North Germany and Berlin as teacher training recruits. At the same time, the vocational educational system as a whole benefits from take-up by urgently needed qualified teachers.
The collaboration between the Foundation, the universities and the Stifterverband represents a long-term contribution to remedying the shortage of teachers. The project demonstrates how innovative support models can smooth the path of career changers and strengthen the educational landscape over the long term.
