Thousands of students are now studying for their “Nachzipf”, often with the help of paid support. For parents, this is expensive entertainment; according to AK, they spent an average of around 750 euros per child on tutoring last school year. There are differences between federal states.
The need is great, according to the Chamber of Labour. According to their tutoring barometer, almost every second schoolchild has recently needed external support. In some cases, free remedial courses at schools help, but in many cases this is not possible without professional learning institutes or teachers. More than one in five children use these, just as many as the free offers. 18 percent receive tutoring in institutes or at home, while another seven percent depend on paid courses from internet platforms. Only 14 percent can count on private, unpaid support. The most demand is for support in mathematics, followed by German, English and French.
According to AK, parents spent a total of 168 million euros on aid last school year, 46 million more than the year before. This means costs of around 750 euros per child. In 2022/23, this was ‘only’ 720 euros.
Many cannot afford tutoring
Of course, this national value is not correct for all states. For Upper Austria, for example, the AK OÖ has currently determined that 523 euros are spent on tutoring per schoolchild. About half of the parents who have not organised professional help say that they have not done so because of the high costs. More than 25 percent would have liked to have made this possible for their children.
The AK therefore calls for comprehensive, free funding in schools for all who need it. So that success in “Nachzipf” and elsewhere is not dependent on the income of the parents and educational opportunities become more equal.
31 percent of parents learn with their children every day
Furthermore, parents are the busiest teachers: 31 percent say that they perform tasks and learn with the children almost every day during school hours. 24 percent do this two to three times a week, another 17 percent at least weekly. One in three families with working parents can barely manage this in terms of time, and more than one in five respondents indicate that they are actually unable to support their children due to a lack of their own knowledge.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
