Ready for the start of the 2024/2025 school year

On Monday, 5 August, the new school year begins in Saxony for pupils at primary, secondary and special schools as well as grammar schools and vocational schools and for young people and adults who are aiming for a school-leaving qualification through the second educational pathway.

2,067 new pupils* in Chemnitz start their first day of school on Monday at one of the 41 municipal primary schools, 96 at the Chemnitz Cooperation School and the Chemnitz School Model (as special schools) and 151 at one of the ten special schools.

In total, lessons start on Monday for 20,571 pupils at municipal schools (41 primary schools, 14 secondary schools, 7 grammar schools, 10 special schools, 7 vocational schools, 2 special schools and 2 second-chance schools).
In addition, there are 10 schools run by independent organisations (primary schools, secondary schools, grammar schools, special schools) and 19 vocational schools run by independent organisations.

* Note on pupil numbers: The official pupil statistics 2024/2025 will be made available to the City of Chemnitz in October by the Statistical Office of the Free State of Saxony.


Costs for learning materials:

The City of Chemnitz is paying around 1.9 million euros for new textbooks and other learning materials this year. For the municipal primary schools, they cost around 626,000 euros, for the secondary schools around 329,000 euros, for the grammar schools around 417,000 euros, for the two community schools around 75.000 euros, around 115,000 euros for the special schools, around 328,000 euros for the seven vocational schools and around 19,000 euros for the second-chance schools.


Digital Pact for Schools:

With the DigitalPakt Schule, the German government is providing a total of five billion euros to drive forward digitalisation in Germany's schools. The city of Chemnitz has also applied for funding and will receive around 12.5 million euros, which will be made available for municipal schools in Chemnitz until the end of 2024. The funds are to be used primarily for the digital infrastructure in schools, for example for passive data networks and digital equipment (interactive boards, tablets, active network technology and Wi-Fi, etc.).

Construction work on passive data networks in schools has progressed as follows: of a total of 37 measures, nine projects have been fully completed, 28 projects are still in progress, with the IT network already completed for 20 measures. Only the remaining construction work (drywall construction, painting) is still being carried out. The remaining eight measures are scheduled for completion by the end of the third quarter of 2024. In accordance with the funding provider's specifications, all construction measures will be completed by the end of 2024.

Every municipal school in Chemnitz has had a broadband connection since mid-2022, and the conversion of all connections to fibre optic has already been completed with the exception of a few individual cases. More than 90 per cent of all schools are now fully equipped with Wi-Fi, with nine schools to follow by the end of the year. The situation is similar with digital presentation equipment, which is functional in more than 70 per cent of schools and has already been ordered and commissioned for installation in 24 schools. This means that the DigitalPakt Schule will be implemented in the municipal schools in Chemnitz on schedule by the end of 2024.


School social work:

School social work is a service provided by youth welfare organisations in the school environment and is available to all pupils. One of the main tasks of school social work is to provide counselling and individual support, especially for those who are in need of increased support to compensate for social disadvantages or personal impairments. School social work is also aimed at teachers, parents and guardians.
In the 2024/2025 school year, the City of Chemnitz is funding a total of 52 school social work services: at 17 secondary schools, 9 special schools, 17 primary schools, 6 grammar schools and 3 vocational school centres.


School transport:

The application processing for the 2024/25 school year has not yet been completed, so the costs for this have not yet been determined. In the past school year 2023/24, 346 applications - excluding those for special transport services - were processed. The expenses incurred by the City of Chemnitz for this totalled around 2.3 million euros.

Special transport services, i.e. journeys for pupils with special needs to their special schools in the Chemnitz city area, are also financed from the city budget. Contractually bound transport companies transport 672 pupils with disabilities to their schools every day on behalf of the City of Chemnitz. The costs for these special transport services amounted to around €5.4 million in the 2023/24 school year.

Application forms for school transport are available at the schools, from the city and at www.chemnitz.de/schuelerbefoerderung


Safe journeys to school:Measures of the school journey safety working group in the Transport and Civil Engineering Department

Many pupils will be making their own way to school again from Monday. To ensure that they can do this safely, the City of Chemnitz Traffic and Civil Engineering Department's Safe Routes to School Working Group is working under the direction of the traffic authority with the road construction authority, traffic planning, the Chemnitz police department, the education authority, Chemnitz transport companies, the public order office and Verkehrswacht Chemnitz e. V. (Chemnitz Traffic Watch). V. are constantly working on proposals and changes to eliminate potential danger spots and road defects.
Under Important information for parents, the interactive city map can be used to plan routes to school. By entering their place of residence in Chemnitz or a specific school, parents or pupils can select specific routes to school. Existing dangerous spots, crossing aids such as pedestrian crossings, central islands etc. are displayed as images at the click of a mouse and help parents to find the best and safest route to school for their child.

The following measures were implemented in the past school year:

• In the area of the Weststraße primary school, a 30 km/h speed limit has been introduced on Weststraße (between Reichsstraße and Kanzlerstraße in both directions) and on Reichsstraße (between Wielandstraße and Weststraße and between Weststraße and Emil-Rosenow-Straße).
• In the area of Lengefelder Strasse in the direction of Gruuna Primary School, a new pavement was built and the existing pavement on Saydaer Strasse was repaired, thus narrowing the access road to the property to make crossing easier.
• A 30 km/h speed limit was introduced on Wolgograder Allee in the area of the Johannes-Dick-Straße bus stop to make it easier to cross Wolgograder Allee between bus stops.
• In the area of Augustusburger Straße, visibility was improved in the area of the centre island due to the route to the Südlicher Sonnenberg primary school.
• A pedestrian crossing was built on Einsiedler Hauptstraße at Wiesenufer.
• The bottle banks on Barthelstrasse have found a new location on Kieselhausenstrasse, meaning that the pavement on Barthelstrasse can now be used again.

The following measures are planned:

• A central island will be built on Lützowstraße at the level of Deulichstraße.
• Completion of the test phase of the one-way street regulation in the area of Reichenhain primary school.
• 30 km/h speed limit at the Reichsstraße/Weststraße junction for the Weststraße primary school.

At the start of the school year, the Chemnitz Police Department and the City of Chemnitz Public Order Office will increase their monitoring of moving and stationary traffic.

The volunteer members of Verkehrswacht Chemnitz e. V.(www.vkw-chemnitz.de) will also be on site with various campaigns to ensure that Chemnitz children are safe on their way to school.


Construction work:

• The 2024/25 school year begins at the new Brauhausstraße site for the Chemnitz Cooperation School. The renovation work in the existing buildings of the former Annenschule was completed on schedule within a year. A tendering process is currently underway for the planned extension.
  
• Work on the Mittelbach primary school, which is already well advanced, is continuing. A new staircase is being built here as a second escape route and rooms are being created for club use. The work is proceeding according to plan. Construction is scheduled for completion at the end of 2024.
  
• Work at Adelsberg primary school is scheduled for completion by mid-October. A needs-based extension is being built and the outdoor facilities are being remodelled. Work in the existing building has also been integrated into the construction project.
  
• The first and second construction phases of the Altchemnitz learning support school are expected to be completed in September. Further work on the outdoor facilities is proceeding according to plan. The school is scheduled to reopen in the winter holidays of 2025.
  
• Work is also continuing at Johannes Kepler Grammar School. The extension is expected to be handed over in January 2025. Once it has been put into operation by the school, further construction work is planned until summer 2025 once the rooms in the old building have been vacated.
  
• Work will also continue at Karl-Schmidt-Rottluff-Gymnasium. Construction of the extension to Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Grammar School is scheduled for completion and commencement of use in the 2025/2026 school year.