Hessian Teaching Academy closes seminars in Fuldatal and Weilburg!

Hessian Teaching Academy closes seminars in Fuldatal and Weilburg!

The Hessian Teaching Academy announced today that seminar operations in Fuldatal and Weilburg will be discontinued in the next few years. This decision was made by the Ministry of Culture in Wiesbaden and is likely to have far-reaching effects, especially since the conference venues have been underutilized in recent years. Fuldatal offers space for 488 people, but in 2024 it only had an average of 12 educators per day. Even in Weilburg, where 81 overnight rooms are available, there were only 25 users per day. This led to both locations accumulating deficits over the years.

Operations in Fuldatal are scheduled to cease by 2027 at the latest, while those in Weilburg are scheduled to cease by 2029 at the latest. The Ministry of Culture has emphasized the priority of ensuring the “adequate continued employment” of 17 state employees in both institutions. In the future, the teaching academy wants to reset its priorities and focus more on digital training formats. The use of modern locations in Gießen and Alsfeld, as well as collaborations with external education providers, are also planned.

Need for reform in teacher training

A report published in October made further suggestions for reducing costs in teacher training. This includes shortening the traineeship to 18 months and closing conference venues. However, these measures were sharply criticized by the education union GEW, which sees these plans as sending the wrong signal given the existing shortage of teachers. The Greens also warn that the required capacities of the teaching academy should not simply be given up, especially at a time when new teachers are urgently needed.

In the context of digital transformation, which also affects the further education and training of teachers, current developments in the technology industry show how important digital solutions have become. OneDrive recently introduced new offline functions that enable teachers in particular to use files without an internet connection and thus increase their productivity even with unstable connections. This can provide valuable support for educators who want to rely on mobile and flexible teaching formats. Content can be opened directly in preferred applications, significantly improving workflow. Such innovations could also become part of the teacher academy's future training strategies if digital formats are the focus.

The question remains as to how these changes will affect the training of young teachers in the long term and whether the intended online formats can actually ensure the quality of training. The time pressure and concerns about the closure of traditional further training opportunities are putting those responsible in an already tense situation under further pressure.

There is no doubt that we are facing a momentous transition for teachers and the education of the next generation. How the situation will develop remains to be seen.