The Ministry of Education wants to combat violence in schools with a new initiative. Under the motto “Camera is running! “Your Declaration against Violence and Aggression”, high school students one and two are called upon to present their ideas for a positive school climate on film. “Our schools must be safe places,” Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) said at a press conference on Thursday.
Young people can submit the videos, scripts or storyboards before March 28, 2025 on the Ministry of Education website. Contributions should last between one and ten minutes and cover the topics of violence prevention, bullying and a respectful school climate.
“With the competition, we not only provide students with a platform to formulate creative ideas for appreciative collaboration, but also promote conscious and constructive research into violence prevention,” says Polaschek.
Presentation with Olympic medalists
The video project complements the mandatory child protection concepts that must be drawn up by every school by the end of the current school year, the ‘Extremism Prevention Makes Schools’ initiative, further training for teachers in the field of de-escalation management and cyberbullying, as well as collaboration with police security officers Measures to prevent violence in schools.
The project was presented on Thursday by Polaschek together with judoka and Olympic medalist Shamil Borchashvili, who has been giving workshops at schools for some time under the motto ‘Become the best version of yourself’ and is a jury member for the initiative.
Polaschek: “Great challenge”
When asked about the number of exceptional students – i.e. those who do not know enough German to take lessons – Polaschek said: “Yes, it has increased. (..) That is why we have increased the financing hours accordingly and invested 40 million euros in Vienna alone.” In addition, the support programs for the German language have been expanded.
The German shortages concern the city of Vienna
The federal capital faces a greater challenge because children with poor German skills are less widespread than in the federal states. He has little appreciation for a proposal from the Greens to expand school choice based on socio-economic criteria. This stipulated that parents could indicate five schools of their choice in the future.
The final allocation is done centrally based on the criteria of proximity to home, siblings, mother tongue and educational level of the parents. “I don’t think this proposal is very advanced in its form.” You have to consider “what the consequences could be,” namely that parents who could afford it would send their children to private schools, Polaschek said.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
