Plans leak out: punishment for parents of students who do not want to integrate

Is the sugar pact coming, or will the cards in coalition poker be reshuffled at the end of the super election year? After the NEOS withdrew this weekend and the ÖVP and SPÖ spoke to the party leadership on Monday, the decision should be finalized during the week – and will only be further negotiated if a common goal is in sight.

New secret plans
What turquoise, red and pink want to tackle in terms of content is now taking on increasingly concrete forms. After the “Krone” revealed the first secret plans, such as the second compulsory kindergarten year, further plans were leaked with the results of the subgroups. This includes ‘leftovers’ from the black-green government, such as new projects.

• Education reform Teachers must concentrate more on teaching again and be relieved of the workload of daily school life by organizational assistants. The position of school director must be strengthened. Allowances could be increased and management qualities could receive more attention when filling positions.

• Integration Lower Austria’s governor, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, called for fines of up to 2,500 euros for parents of students who refuse to integrate. In the education subgroup they have reportedly already agreed on the wording ‘sanctions’. These can become serious, for example when students make disparaging comments about female students or when fathers of students fail to greet teachers and refuse to shake hands.

• Second compulsory kindergarten year Care should remain free in the morning and be charged if necessary in the afternoon.

• Basic protection of children The sincere concern of SPÖ leader Andreas Babler consists of a basic amount, an in-kind part and an income-related part.

• Minimum security Minimum security should be handled through the AMS and linked to integration courses for immigrants.

• “Dickpic” Paragraph The sugar coalition wants to implement what was not successful under the black-green coalition. Unsolicited sending of pornographic content should be made a criminal offence.

• Right to an analogue life The legal right to access administrative areas without electronic aids, a central demand of the SPÖ in the election campaign, must be implemented.

• Klimagesetz ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS apparently have what the previous government was unable to achieve: a climate protection law. Or at least something called that. Because details are still being negotiated. It is clear that the law must have an ‘agricultural’ signature. Chairman of the Farmers’ Association Georg Strasser, himself a senior group negotiator, praises the “constructive discussions” with his SPÖ colleague Sven Hergovich. They will push for the implementation of the Austrian Program for Environmentally Friendly Agriculture (ÖPUL).

• Transport policy The negotiators stepped on the gas when it came to transportation. There is agreement on almost all points. This will create a separate criminal offense for participating in illegal street races.