State governor Barbara Schöbi-Fink (ÖVP) hoped that the two schools might be reopened in a year or two. “That is our goal,” stressed Schöbi-Fink on Tuesday following the state government meeting. It is clear that the closure of a school means a major cut in the social life of the village.
The Partenen elementary school (15 pupils) and the Wald am Arlberg elementary school (12 pupils) are affected. The pupils are accepted at the elementary school in Gaschurn or at the elementary school in Dalaas. The parents were informed at the end of the previous school year, it said.
Half of the vacancies not filled
Schöbi-Fink emphasized that a week ago there were still 28 vacancies in elementary schools, now there are only 14: “The dynamic is high”. For the beginning of the school year, 373 new teachers or those returning to compulsory school were recruited, significantly more than in the previous school year (303).
In Vorarlberg, 54,592 children and young people will start the new school year at 288 schools next week, including 5,370 first graders.
“This is a sign that our measures are bearing fruit,” said the state governor. A recruiting position was set up in the Vorarlberg education department. Education Director Evelyn Marte-Stefani also emphasized that this position had already proven itself.
Rent subsidy and climate ticket as incentives
52 (2021: 29) of the 373 teachers are people from other federal states (especially Burgenland, Styria, Carinthia) and abroad. The measures also include the state granting a rent subsidy and a climate ticket to teachers who have moved in. “The rent subsidy has been around for a few years, but now we’ve increased it significantly,” said Schöbi-Fink. In addition, 115 career changers and 30 retired teachers were employed.
Better lateral entrants than no teachers
Schöbi-Fink countered criticism of the employment of lateral entrants by stating that “I would also prefer sufficiently trained teachers”. But it is better to have lateral entrants than no teachers at all. To improve the situation, the state governor repeated her request to the federal government to change the study structure for teaching at primary level.
Opposition: “Systematic failure”
A three-year bachelor’s degree might be followed by a part-time, two-year master’s degree, Schöbi-Fink determined. The bachelor’s degree currently lasts four years. Vorarlberg’s opposition parties FPÖ, SPÖ and NEOS, on the other hand, made out “systematic failure of Vorarlberg’s education policy”.
Start of school without compulsory tests and masks
Schöbi-Fink said in relation to the topic of the corona virus that they are happy regarding the big step towards normality, but are “not naïve and vigilant” in the new school year. In any case, face-to-face teaching is planned, even if the situation should deteriorate.
