For better integration of children from migrant families, authorities propose to more widely involve teachers with migrant backgrounds in schools
In the report of the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of School Education Barbara Sommer, the following figures were mentioned, in particular: about 30% of schoolchildren in Germany have migrant backgrounds, while only about 2% of teachers in German general education schools are migrants. And specifically in North Rhine-Westphalia, even fewer – about 1%. According to Sommer, "we need to strive to balance these components and improve the image of the teaching profession."
The Federal Government Commissioner for Integration Maria Böhmer also spoke in the same vein, stating that "it is necessary to increase the number of German citizens with migrant backgrounds among civil servants, including school teachers."
The idea is sound, but just 15-20 years too late. Because if we talk about teachers from the republics of the former USSR living in Germany, of whom there are not one thousand, if not tens of thousands, then for them, holders of Soviet diplomas, the path to German schools was initially closed. The formal reason was that their education did not meet the requirements for teachers in Germany (our graduates were considered specialists in one subject, whereas German universities provide qualifications in two subjects). And instead of orienting our resettlers and emigrants towards acquiring a second teaching profession, they were simply denied recognition of their diplomas, without being informed of the available opportunities. This can only be explained by the unwillingness of the authorities to let outsiders into their "patch."
As a result, thousands of our qualified teachers, who perfectly understand the mentality of adolescent compatriots, found themselves out of work, losing almost all their professional skills over the years. And our youth who grew up here show no interest in the teaching profession whatsoever.
And now, when faced with an acute shortage of teaching staff, the belatedly alarmed German authorities are talking about the need to "increase the number of German citizens with migrant backgrounds among teachers," this appeal sounds like a voice crying in the wilderness.
Sergey DEBRER.
Russkaya Germaniya