More foreign-born teachers working in Germany

There are more teachers from abroad working in German schools than ever before. The last decade has seen an increase of 61% in the number of foreign teachers.

More teachers in Germany have non-German passports than ever before, according to figures from the German Statistics Office Destatis published on 2 October.

Despite the increase, the percentage remains relatively modest; only 1.4% of teachers in Germany were not born here.

The Statistics Office described the figure as “low” in their press release, but despite the apparently small figure, there has been an increase of 61.6% in the last 10 years in the number of foreign-born teachers in Germany.

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The number went up from around 3,700 in 2008/2009 to around 9,700 in the school year 2018/2019. Overall, there are around 686,000 full- and part-time teachers in Germany.

Most foreign teachers in Berlin

According to the figures, the vast majority of foreign teachers come from other parts of Europe, around 7,800. Most come from France, the UK and Austria. Around 1,100 come from the Americas, mostly from the US, while around 450 came from Asia.

Within Germany, there was a stark division in the number of foreign teachers in each state. Berlin had the highest proportion, with over 5%, followed by Hamburg and Hesse, to which Frankfurt belongs.

Meanwhile, the relatively rural state of Saxony-Anhalt had the lowest percentage with only 0.5% of teachers with non-German passports.

German authorities have confirmed that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, British nationals working in Germany will be able to apply for residency and remain in their places of work. It is less certain how the future looks for any potential British teachers who would want to join their 700 fellow expats in Germany.

The statistics were released ahead of World Teacher Day on 5 October. 

ed/ng (KNA, AFP)/ © DW