Pooled school aides proposed to ease strain on Bavarian councils

Pooling school aides could help ease rising costs for Bavarian municipalities, which fund support for children who need help attending school, BR reports. Under the proposed approach, one aide would support several children rather than provide one-to-one assistance.

For 14-year-old Emma, who is autistic, a school aide makes it possible for her to attend ninth grade at a secondary school in Puchheim. She finds school intensely challenging and relies on predictable routines. She wears headphones to guard against loud noises and draws circles on her tablet or squeezes an anti-stress ball to help regulate herself.

When a German teacher announces group work, Emma becomes distressed and loses her sense of orientation. Her aide notices and takes her out of the classroom. Emma compares going to school to putting her hand on a hot stove, saying her aide is like an oven mitt that helps her cope.

More children with physical disabilities, autism, ADHD or social and emotional difficulties are relying on school aides. The number of aides for children and young people with mental disabilities doubled from 2,755 in 2018 to 6,842 in 2024. Spending on that support also doubled, reaching more than 133 million euros. In total, more than 26,000 children in Bavaria with physical, intellectual or mental disabilities need school support.

Districts, counties and independent cities share the costs. Fürstenfeldbruck County spends three million euros a year, County Commissioner Thomas Karmasin said. The number of children eligible for support has risen dramatically, he said, while the county is having to pay for it from its youth welfare budget.

Children currently have an individual legal entitlement to one-to-one support. The federal government plans to shift to a pooled model as part of a reform, with a team of aides supporting children in turn according to need. One-to-one assistance would become the exception.

The Bavarian County Association, the association representing the region’s administrative districts, the responsible social ministry and providers such as Johanniter say pooling could help preserve the school aide system and relieve pressure on municipal budgets. They say children with mental disabilities would still need individual arrangements.

Karmasin, who heads the Bavarian County Association, also wants schools to take greater responsibility, including by seeking additional staff. The association says structural solutions are needed and that school aides should not be used indefinitely to make up for shortcomings in other systems. It also says schools need more multidisciplinary teams.