Federal government is responding to the killing spree: strengths mental health in schools!

Federal government is responding to the killing spree: strengths mental health in schools!

On July 2, 2025, the Federal Government announced a comprehensive package of measures to strengthen mental health in schools. The background to this initiative is the tragic killing spree on the Borg Dreienschützengasse in Graz, in which 11 people lost their lives. Education Minister Christoph Return (NEOS) said that the measures should be decided on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers in order to tackle the growing psychosocial problems of students faster.

Against mental stress in children and adolescents can already be determined, reinforced by crises such as corona apandemia and international conflicts. Therefore, the urgency of the new measures that aim to prevent violence and school abortion is therefore underlined.

planned measures to support students

The package of measures includes the expansion of prevention programs and an increase in staff in school psychology and school social work. Specifically, the plan provides for a doubling of the positions in school psychology from currently almost 190 to ultimately 390 until the end of 2027. In the coming school year, 70 new jobs will be created, followed by another 70 jobs in the school year 2026/27. In addition, the introduction of 30 positions for school social work will be sought from the school year 2025/26, with another 35 jobs in the following year.

A central element of the initiative is the mandatory “exit talks”, which are to be carried out in the event of a threat of school termination between students and parents. These discussions are intended to help identify psychosocial risk factors at an early stage and to ensure that the training path is accompanied.

Financial support and workshops

In order to be able to implement the planned measures, the budget for the “Strong School, Strong Society” project is doubled to four million euros annually. From next year, additional workshops for "psychosocial support and mental health" will also be offered to help the students better understand and strengthen their mental health.

In another context, it is underlined that the Federal Government takes the problem of psychological health burden seriously. At this point, the Federal Minister of Youth Lisa Paus mentions that a model program for "mental health coaches" has already been started at schools, which includes over 100 schools in all 16 federal states. This program has the goal of encouraging children and adolescents, looking for help with psychological problems and showing them where this help is available. Specialists from social pedagogy, social work and psychology are used at schools to provide preventive offers to strengthen resilience and to promote the exchange between the specialists.

These measures form a step in the right direction in order to counteract the challenges of the increasing number of school abrasion and to offer students a contact point in crisis situations. The upcoming decisions in the Council of Ministers are therefore of crucial importance for the future of mental health in Austrian schools.