After teachers’ unions in Vienna raised the alarm about the threat of overload caused by many new schoolchildren due to family reunification, Upper Austria’s top teachers representative now warns: “We are at the limit of capacity.” No reports of problems received because of this.
Recently, teachers’ unions in Vienna warned, as reported, that the school system would become overloaded as many children are currently admitted to classes through the family reunification of asylum seekers. What does it look like in Upper Austria?
“We have reached the limit of capacity and in many schools it is above it. You can’t just add a class to every broom closet. “But you cannot increase the maximum number of students in a class when it comes to language training,” says Paul Kimberger, the country’s largest teachers union, who admits: Upper Austria is nowhere near the number of Vienna. And: All central areas are experiencing influx. “It is not just about family reunification, but even more importantly.”
New center for integration issues
Last year, approximately 9,000 requests to transfer family members were received nationwide, of which approximately 2,300 were for school-age children (for comparison, there are approximately 600,000 school-age students in Austria). According to Kimberger, many of them come from Syria and are often traumatized; That is why the teacher representative calls on the help of support staff such as psychologists and social workers.
However, according to a survey, no school region reported problems due to family reunification to the Upper Austrian Education Directorate. But integration always remains a challenge. A new center where teachers can answer questions about this is well received.
Source: Krone
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