Mandatory Summer School is Coming: Teachers Warn of Chaos

The teachers' union sees "serious problems" with the planned new mandatory summer school for children needing German language support. Otherwise, there was a lot of approval expressed during the review of the draft law, albeit with detailed criticism. The fact that schools are to receive more autonomy in German language support is also largely welcomed. However, there are fears of more bureaucracy, and the union again warned of a "bureaucratic monster" and "documentation madness".

Teachers See "Serious Problems" with Mandatory Summer School

The summer school was introduced in 2020 to make up for learning deficits caused by the pandemic, and since 2022, the offer has also been open to students with special interests and talents. A total of 41,100 students recently attended the summer school voluntarily. With the planned reform, extraordinary students whose German skills are insufficient to follow the lessons will be required to attend the summer school in the future. In 2026, this would initially affect students in German support classes (recently around 26,000), and the following year, those in German support courses (recently just under 23,000). Recently, only 7,900 extraordinary students used the offer voluntarily.

It is precisely this growing number of students in the summer school that poses a problem for the teachers. "These groups must be accommodated at additional locations (780 locations in summer 2025) and these necessary locations and groups naturally also require additional staff!" they state in their position. In general, the compulsory school teachers' union does not consider the mandatory summer school to be a meaningful contribution to German language support: "The resources (hopefully) additionally provided for this would be better invested if they were available to schools during a school year."

AK Warns of Quality Losses

The Chamber of Labor insists that despite the "enormous" expansion of the summer school, the quality must not decline and that attention must continue to be paid to small groups and the use of qualified personnel. In the case of a requirement, the ministry must also ensure good accessibility of the locations and school transport. A requirement only for extraordinary students is only justified if the (language) educational effectiveness of the measure can be proven. The University of Teacher Education (PH) Vienna also sees the requirement as a "bold step" that massively interferes with the vacation planning of guardians. The central committee of AHS teachers is bothered by the requirement for individual support plans for the children and that the previous maximum group size of 15 children is to be abolished.

New Funding Model Brings More Autonomy – and More Bureaucracy

The reorganization of German language support, along with more autonomy for schools, is fundamentally welcomed by the union as an "important and correct educational policy step." "However, the instruments now provided for a questionable central quality assurance once again suggest a 'bureaucratic monster' instead of greater pedagogical freedom." For example, the required creation of a language support concept is associated with an enormous additional effort without additional resources and brings little benefit to the children.

From the perspective of the AK, the redesign of German language support should not create organizational hurdles for those schools that choose alternative support forms instead of the controversial current standard model with separate German support classes and courses. The central committee of AHS teachers also demands a regulation without "bureaucracy" like the planned language support concept and does not want the decision on the type of German language support to lie solely with the school management.

Criticism of Advancement Clause Despite Lack of German Skills

There are skeptical voices regarding the planned advancement clause for extraordinary students. The fact that they should be able to advance from primary to middle school despite "inadequate" German skills according to MIKA-D, if the school conference believes they can follow the lessons in the next higher class well, is seen by AHS teacher representatives as a "passing on" without sense. The constitutional service in the Federal Chancellery sees a possible contradiction to the principle of equal treatment and objectivity if the completion of the 4th grade of primary school remains a prerequisite for all children to enter middle school, but not for extraordinary students. Meanwhile, the PH Vienna would even wish, "for reasons of equal opportunity," that extraordinary students could generally transfer to a gymnasium with the decision of the school conference.

The planned changes are generally welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce, as they expect an improvement in language education. However, they demand accompanying measures to ensure that there is enough staff for the additional support measures despite the teacher shortage.

(APA/Red)

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