Education revolution: 4,000 new places for elementary pedagogy in sight!

Education revolution: 4,000 new places for elementary pedagogy in sight!

Vienna, Österreich - Education Minister Christoph Return (NEOS) today presented an ambitious program to combat the teacher lack in Austria. In the next four years, 4,000 additional training positions for elementary pedagogy are to be created. This initiative is part of a comprehensive strategy for improving early childhood education in Austria, which according to the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research has a decisive influence on the later educational success of the children.

Return announced that, among other things, a new bachelor's degree in elementary education is introduced. It is also planned to qualify existing assistants to educators and make it easier to access them. A “large training initiative” is to be approved in the Council of Ministers next week, accompanied by additional investments of 32 million euros. The minister was optimistic about finding enough teachers in the coming school year and the goal of fighting the teacher lacks until the end of the legislative period.

focus on language support and mediation of values ​​

A central concern of the new initiative is also to promote children's language skills. The minister plans to double the number of German supporters from 650 to 1,300. In addition to individual funding programs, values ​​and democracy customers are to be integrated into the curricula of the AHS sub-level and middle schools from the next school year. A second mandatory kindergarten year, which is to be introduced by 2027 at the latest, has already been financed.

The group of young people who only have inadequate reading and writing capabilities after nine years of compulsory schooling receives special attention. Return described this problem as a "huge problem area" and plans the introduction of a medium maturity in order to counteract this. For young people who do not exist, targeted support programs are being planned.

challenges in the education system

The challenges in the Austrian education system should not be underestimated. The in National Education Report 2024 Published report documents social inequalities and a continued teacher shortage. In recent years, career changers have increasingly closed the gaps, while 10% of the new teachers come from these ranks. Under the conditions of a fragmented educational system, the report also shows that students with a migration background or special educational needs are often underserved.

The need to improve the framework conditions for the staff in elementary pedagogy is urgently recommended by experts. An analysis of educational research proves that the first years of education are crucial for the further learning course. The challenges of educational federalism and the unequal resource distribution between urban and rural regions urgently require new approaches.