Starting in the 2025/26 school year, Bremen is preparing a nationwide unique project: teachers will digitally track their working hours.
Six schools are participating in this model experiment, conducted in cooperation with the Deutsche Telekom Stiftung. The goal is to develop a modern, legally compliant, and practical system that realistically reflects daily teacher workloads.
“A functional time-tracking system requires more than technology — it requires thorough preparation,”
- says Sascha Karolin Aulepp (SPD), Senator for Children and Education.
“This pilot project is an important step to improve working conditions in Bremen in the long term.”
⚖️ Politically Sensitive Topic
How much teachers actually work has been a controversial question for years.
- Unions complain about overwork.
- Politicians long adhered to rigid teaching hour regulations (Deputats).
With the introduction of digital time tracking, Bremen is entering new territory — and a political balancing act:
- Critics fear a “bureaucratic control system” that will add to an already packed teacher schedule.
- Supporters see the opportunity to gather objective data on actual working hours — a factor that could influence collective bargaining and legislation.
🏫 Three Phases — Clear Structure
The project is planned over three years:
- Preparation (until July 2026) – Development of technical and legal foundations.
- Pilot phase (August 2026 – July 2027) – All staff at the six selected schools track working hours digitally on iPads.
- Evaluation (from August 2027) – Analysis by the project group, the Institute for Quality Development in Bremen Education (IQHB), and the Telekom Stiftung.
Participating schools include Gymnasium Horn, Oberschule Lerchenstraße, and Paul-Goldschmidt-Schule.
🤝 Partners from Industry
The Deutsche Telekom Stiftung brings experience from its “Freiräume(n)” project, which tests alternative teacher work models nationwide.
“The current working time model is outdated. Bremen shows how teachers can be relieved through new frameworks,”
- says Jacob Chammon, Managing Director of Telekom Stiftung.
💡 Bremen Start-Up Weighs In
Support also comes from the regional business community — along with criticism of the long lead time.
The Bremen start-up TimeSpin
GmbH, specialized in digital time tracking for professionals, believes immediate implementation is possible.
“Technically, the problem is already solved. Our systems are GDPR-compliant, device-independent, and tested in practice,”
- says CEO Oliver Otto.
“Instead of preparing for three years, we could start now — and gather experience from day one.”
🌟 Signaling Effect Beyond Bremen
Whether Bremen’s model will set a precedent depends on the 2027 evaluation.
What is clear: the project has the potential to establish nationwide standards. For teachers, it could lead to greater transparency and fairer workload distribution — if time tracking is understood as a tool for relief, not control.
Until then, the project remains a high-profile political experiment. Bremen could become a role model — or face challenges from resistance within its own education system.
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