School chaos in Brandenburg: Two million hours are canceled!
Märkisch-Oderland records lesson cancellations: almost 2 million hours affected, especially in Frankfurt (Oder) and Cottbus.

School chaos in Brandenburg: Two million hours are canceled!
The situation of schools in Brandenburg is cause for concern: in the 2024/2025 school year, almost two million teaching hours did not take place as planned. This corresponds to around 14 percent of the total scheduled hours, which is challenging for teachers and students alike. These numbers reflect a look back at the past school situation. Around 1.7 million hours were the responsibility of substitute staff, while around 320,000 hours were left without replacement. Compared to the previous school year, a slight decrease in absences without replacement can be observed, which at that time was 2.35 percent. Even if these data do not indicate widespread problems, there are significant variations between different school types and regions World reported.
The main hotspots for canceled classes are Frankfurt (Oder) and Cottbus. In Frankfurt the failures were 3.38 percent, while the Cottbus schools even recorded 3.42 percent. What is particularly striking is the high proportion of missed hours at secondary schools in Frankfurt, which is over 9 percent. So the question arises: Why do the failures vary so much between the individual cities and types of schools? The Ministry of Education has stated that it does not see any widespread problems, but the figures seem to show the opposite. Overall, there are maz online detailed information about it.
Teaching reforms and teacher burden
The picture is further darkened by plans to require teachers to work an additional hour per week from the second half of the year. This could add to the pressures already present, particularly in cases of illness. Teachers warn that this could lead to even higher defaults. This is also reflected in the statements of Dennis Hohloch, the AfD's education policy spokesman. He speaks of worrying developments and calls for urgent measures to relieve the burden on teachers. The criticism is particularly directed against the plans of the SPD and BSW, which want to make additional teaching hours compulsory.
In order to defuse the situation, the representation budget was increased by 14.5 million euros, which corresponds to additional funds worth 388 full-time positions. Nevertheless, the number of teaching positions in the state budget is under pressure as it has been reduced by 345 positions even though the education budget has grown. This not only causes confusion, but also uncertainty in schools. Fortunately, in Prignitz in particular there were only 1.28 percent failures without replacement, while in Dahme-Spreewald the number was 15.6 percent, which illustrates the challenge that the Ministry of Education has in front of it.
In conclusion, it should be noted that Brandenburg's schools face a number of challenges that should not be ignored. The debate over the effectiveness of the additional lessons is in full swing as parents and students hope for a positive turnaround.