Budget 2025/26: More money for education and new opportunities for children!

Budget 2025/26: More money for education and new opportunities for children!

Wien, Österreich - On June 5, 2025, the Austrian educational budget is the focus of the political debate. The Budget Committee of the National Council is currently advising on the budget forecast for the years 2025 and 2026, whereby education becomes one of the central issues. According to information from OTS, a total of around 12 billion euros will be made available for education in 2025 and around 12.5 billion euros in 2026, which corresponds to around 9.7 percent of total expenses.

In the areas of language support, training positions, an expansion of the kindergarten year and the teachers: Interior formation is provided for additional funds. For 2025, an increase in educational expenses of around 407 million euros will be planned, while an increase of 551 million euros is forecast for 2026. Minister of Education Christoph Return emphasizes how important the measures to attracting the teacher: Inner job are.

investments in elementary education

A central concern of the current budget is elementary pedagogy. Around 210 million euros and 314 million euros will be planned here in 2025 in 2026. A mandatory second kindergarten year is to be introduced from September 2026. Minister Return also announced the introduction of the “Healthy Jause” project, which is to be financed with 20 million euros annually over the years 2026 to 2029.

The "quality offensive elementary pedagogy" is to be funded with 10 million euros in 2025 and from 2026 annually with 15 million euros. The efforts to improve German knowledge in schools and kindergartens are recognized as one of the top priorities of the educational department. This includes a budget for German funding of 55 million euros in 2025 and 90 million euros in 2026.

Opportunity index and social justice

An innovative concept for combating educational inequality is the opportunities index, which is intended to benefit in particular social disadvantaged schools. In 2025, 20 million euros are planned for this, while 65 million euros are to be available annually from 2026. Another relevant development is the discussion about a legal right to the 11th and 12th school year for students: inside with special educational needs.

The government parties have also brought two applications to the plenum that deal with the "quality and expansion offensive" in elementary pedagogy and German funding in schools and kindergartens. This shows a broad political agreement about the need to strengthen early childhood education. The Greens have also requested conditions for binding minimum quality standards in early childhood education.

public education expenditure in international comparison

Compared to other countries, educational finances are also of great importance in Germany. Here, the educational budget includes both public and private editions used for education, research and science. These expenses are not only important for general school education, but also for university formation and vocational training. Statistics show different editions per student and students who are also listed in differentiate according to federal states.

The efforts to increase the education expenditure and to secure the quality of education are undisputed. The challenges that exist in the field of education require targeted measures and investments for a future -proof education policy. Both the federal government as well as the federal states and municipalities are responsible for ensuring a fair educational landscape.

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