Freedom Of Expression

In the run-up to Germany's federal election in September, freelance music teachers are campaigning to be treated the same way as full-time professors - but the drive for recognition is proving a struggle.

- Femke Colborne

High-level music education is in good health in Germany. In February this year, figures from the German Music Information Centre showed that the total number of students enrolled at the country’s 24 conservatoires has risen steadily since 2000, and increased by 1.5 per cent in 2015–16 compared with the previous year. But in order for the country to accommodate these rising student numbers, something has had to give.

German conservatoires rely on the state for their funding, and extra cash for new full-time employees is not always easy to come by. As a result, it is freelance teachers who have taken on the lion’s share of the increase in student numbers. In 2000 there were 5,000 Lehrbeauftragte (freelance teaching staff) working in Germany’s conservatoires; by 2015–16 that number had increased to 6,500. Freelance teachers now account for around 66 per cent of teachers at the country’s conservatoires, and provide between 40 and 60 per cent of total teaching hours.

However, freelance teachers remain woefully underpaid compared with their full-time professor counterparts. While a full-time music teacher employed at a conservatoire can expect to earn between €50,000 and €60,000 a year, a freelancer teaching the same number of hours will earn a fraction of that amount – between €7,000 and €9,000 annually. And that’s not to mention the lack of job security, sick pay, maternity leave and pension, among other benefits.