The states want to make it easier for teachers who are not fully trained to attend primary or kindergarten. In addition, they are demanding the lifting of the current 2.7 percent “ceiling” for special educational needs (SPF), according to Viennese Deputy Mayor Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS), Governor of Carinthia Peter Kaiser (SPÖ) and Governor of Vorarlberg, Barbara Schöbi-Fink (ÖVP) on Friday.
The shortage of teachers in schools and kindergartens was the main topic of the three-day conference of state consultants on education in Vienna, Wiederkehr emphasized. In a ten-point package, Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) is asked to work mainly in primary schools. Important steps have already been taken for secondary and higher education – “but not where there is the greatest shortage, namely in primary schools”.
Similar initiatives should also be in place in kindergarten, Schöbi-Fink said. “We miss primary school teachers. We need more training places and more opportunities for related professions to get into childcare.” Similarly, people who are not educated in primary education but come from related professions should be able to lead groups. The same should apply to after-school teachers, Kaiser emphasized. The completion of “related” studies, for example in the field of social pedagogy or pedagogy, should also allow access to the profession.
“This cover must go”
The federal states have long had a thorn in the side: since 1992, the financial equalization system has required the federal government to provide additional resources for up to 2.7 percent of school-aged pupils who need special support in the classroom because of physical complaints. or psychological limitations. In reality, however, at least four percent of students have such a need for support, says Wiederkehr. The federal states currently have to pay for additional staff themselves. “This lid has to go.”
Schöbi-Fink was “lucky” that Polaschek wanted to consider shortening the bachelor’s program for primary school teachers from four to three years. “We compete with other programs in which the bachelor only lasts three years.” For the western Länder there is also the fact that the corresponding training in the neighboring German-speaking countries also ends after three years.
Another requirement from the federal states: coordination points must be created in the education departments in order to professionalize the recruitment of teachers.
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.
