Vienna starts mega offensive: 500 new jobs for German funding!

Vienna starts mega offensive: 500 new jobs for German funding!

Wien, Österreich - On April 12, 2025, Neos Minister of Education Christoph Retonile presented a comprehensive German funding offensive that has been the largest of its kind for years. Vienna will particularly benefit from this initiative, since the number of positions for extraordinary pupils from 231 to 521 is more than doubled. This represents a significant step towards integration and language support, especially in a city in which over 40 percent of all extraordinary students in Austria go to school.

The financial resources for this initiative increase to 42.5 million euros per year, which corresponds to a doubling of 23.7 million euros compared to earlier times. Vice Mayor Bettina Emmerling supports the investment and sees it an important measure for education in Vienna. An alarming aspect is that almost every second child in a Viennese elementary school has a language support, which is reinforced by the fact that over half of the students speaks a different language in everyday life.

cancellation of the cap and further measures

The previous financial resources from the federal government were capped, a regulation that is now being lifted. Around 40 percent of all additional positions are distributed to Vienna, while the temporary funds that were made available in connection with the Ukraine crisis are permanently secured. Return, which had already increased as a Wiener Education City Council for funds for language support, sets this offensive a strong educational policy sign for more opportunities, integration and targeted support in the schools in Vienna.

These developments are in line with the recommendations of the SWK, which published a statement on the linguistic education of newly immigrant children and adolescents on January 29, 2024. The integration of these groups is described as a central task of the education system and is fundamental for educational opportunities, economic development and social cohesion, as well as Simone Oldenburg, the Minister of Education in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

recommendations for linguistic education

The SWK recommends comprehensive measures to strengthen the target language in schools. This includes the introduction of binding diagnosis in order to grasp the linguistic requirements of the newly immigrated children. In addition, systematic support measures are required that build on the different linguistic and professional learning requirements of these children. The aim is to secure long -term success through intensive language promotion in the first one to two years and to gradually enable integration into regular classes.

An essential point of these recommendations is the need for trained teachers and supportive framework requirements. The SWK suggests developing a central package of measure for linguistic education, which can be flexibly adapted by schools. Evidence -based offers for the qualification of teachers for linguistic education are also the focus, which underlines the importance of specialists in this area.

The need for high -quality language support and education for all students, especially for newly immigrated groups, is becoming increasingly important. The current steps can be viewed as basic building blocks for an inclusive and more integrated educational landscape in Vienna and beyond.

For further information on the importance of linguistic education and the corresponding recommendations, please visit the Documentation of the Bundestag on this topic.