Successful start for the special needs education course at the University of Kassel

The new course completes the teacher training courses at the University of North Hesse. The state is funding five new professorships plus additional positions for academic and teaching staff as well as administrative staff. The expected number of 60 enrolments was clearly exceeded with almost 90 in this winter semester - the first semester.

The Hessian Minister for Science and Research, Art and Culture, Timon Gremmels, commented: "The introduction of the special needs education course is an important development - both for the University of Kassel and for teacher training as a whole. When fully operational, several hundred people will be able to study this course in a few years' time. It will make an important contribution to meeting the demand for special needs teachers in North Hesse even better - this is an important goal for the state of Hesse. Society, schools and, above all, children need people who are committed to ensuring that all children have the same opportunities for a successful educational biography."

Education Minister Armin Schwarz said in Kassel: "Providing special schools and general schools with qualified teachers is a high priority for the Hessian state government. This school year, more than 5,100 special school teaching positions are available for the whole of Hesse, more than ever before. I am quite sure that the newly established course of study for the teaching profession of special needs education at the University of Kassel will develop its special and necessary appeal in our educational institutions in North Hesse."

"At the University of Kassel, we train teachers with a view to practice and a contemporary scientific foundation," added President Prof. Dr. Ute Clement. "I am delighted that special needs education is now joining the existing teacher training courses and completing our range of courses."

The new special needs education course is designed in such a way that students are not only trained to work at special schools. "From the University of Kassel's point of view, a special needs education course - with a particular focus on working in inclusion at mainstream schools, but also a qualification for teaching at special schools - offers a good solution," explained Prof. Dr. René Matzdorf, Vice President for Studies and Teaching at the University of Kassel, at a ceremony in the Gießhaus at the university in North Hesse

The special needs education course in Kassel covers the areas of "Learning" and "Emotional and Social Development", which account for the majority of support needs among affected pupils. Another special feature of the new degree course is that, in addition to the areas of specialization and a teaching subject, it also addresses the targeted promotion of basic language and mathematical skills.

The standard period of study is nine semesters. Students on the new course will study the so-called educational and social science core course - with content from educational science, pedagogy, didactics, psychology and social sciences - together with students from other teaching qualifications. This contributes to the dovetailing of special and mainstream school teaching, and inclusion is given greater consideration as a topic in all teacher training courses at the University of Kassel.

In addition to special needs education, the University of Kassel also offers teacher training courses for elementary school, secondary schools, grammar schools and vocational and business education. Around a fifth of all enrolled students in Kassel are studying to become teachers.

Press contact:

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communication and Marketing
Phone: +49 561 804-1961
E-mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
www.uni-kassel.de