Klagenfurt: Schools have to do without cell phones - radio silence in the classroom!

Klagenfurt: Schools have to do without cell phones - radio silence in the classroom!

Klagenfurt, Österreich - in Klagenfurt there is currently a real radio silence at schools: The management of a total of eleven elementary schools, middle schools and polytechnic schools have recently been withdrawn. These cell phones, which were previously provided for the headmaster and secretariats, were part of a system financed by the city. The annual costs of around 3000 euros were considered low, but now the headmaster must inform the parents that only communication can be communicated via landline. In the future, the schools will again rely exclusively on traditional telephony, which could slow down communication, so .

The city of Klagenfurt justifies the withdrawal of the cell phones with the argument that it is only responsible for landline files as a school holder. This decision was made after the schools had been switched to Skype years ago, which now works perfectly. Nevertheless, there are concerns that individual schools are now unavailable because they do not have a functioning landline. An affected father criticized the fact that this is back on a technical level of the 1990s, while the municipal education officer Ronald Rabitsch (SPÖ) points out that austerity measures must not be at the expense of schools and a solution must be found as soon as possible, such as Kleinezeitung.at reported.

The cell phones were taken because the magistrate believes that the responsibility for the equipment with mobile phones is in the education directorate. While some cell phones have been lost, other schools continue to have a smartphone, but sits in uncertain whether they are really needed. The lack of access to the cell phones has immediate consequences for communication between parents and school management, which is repeatedly taken up in the current discussions about school equipment and the associated costs.