Few Teaching Positions Unfilled Shortly Before School Starts

On Monday, the new school year begins in Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland, and a week later it also starts in the other federal states. Even shortly before classes begin, additional teachers are still being sought. As of Friday noon, according to the Ministry of Education, 265 of the total approximately 120,000 teaching positions were still unfilled, which is 0.22 percent of all positions. The start of the school year is thus secured, it was emphasized in a press release.

Lower Number Than Last Year

Compared to the end of August 2024, the situation has improved; at that time, 403 positions were still advertised. Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) sees the numbers as evidence that more suitable people could be attracted to the teaching profession. Hiring is still taking place across Austria, and he is therefore looking "confidently" at the upcoming start of the school year, he was quoted as saying.

For the 6,100 positions in the main recruitment in April, there were 16,000 applications this time, with career changers seeing an increase of one-third to 2,000 applicants. With the already recruited teachers, all open hours can be covered, the education department emphasized. Currently, further allocation is underway by the education directorates, and additional services from existing teachers are planned. This is quite common; in 2023/24, there were additional services equivalent to 7,000 full-time positions.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.