National Council: Unanimity for new “higher vocational education”

2023-12-14 18:46:25

Further resolutions concern boiler systems and broadband expansion

Vienna (PK) – The Act on Higher Vocational Education (HBB Act) provides new opportunities for formal educational qualifications, for example in apprenticeships National Council passed unanimously today. The ÖVP and the Greens spoke of a fundamental paradigm shift in the possibilities for further training.

In addition to the unanimous implementation of EU requirements on emissions from boiler systems, the majority of MPs also supported a motion for a resolution by the coalition parties for a smooth broadband expansion.

“Higher vocational education” for new formal educational qualifications

The unanimously passed law on higher vocational education (HBB Act) is intended to enable new opportunities for formal educational qualifications, for example in apprenticeships. The improved further training is intended to bring more social recognition to skilled workers and is aimed at around 1.6 million Austrians between 25 and 64 who have completed an apprenticeship as their highest educational qualification and at around 870,000 people who have acquired several years of professional experience after completing compulsory schooling have. The aim is to create a consistent further training perspective on a practical basis in many professional fields and to make the decision to pursue an apprenticeship or vocational training more attractive.

Martina Kaufmann (ÖVP), for example, sees the HBB law as making it possible to climb further up the career ladder in apprenticeships directly at work and creating training courses that are not yet possible today. Martina Kaufmann (ÖVP), for example, sees a paradigm shift in continuing vocational training. The law also represents a clear commitment to teaching. An HBB degree will not be the same, but will be equivalent to a bachelor’s degree, says Kaufmann. From the perspective of Andrea Holzner (ÖVP), the HBB law is the greatest innovation in the education system since the introduction of technical colleges 30 years ago. The qualifications would be transparent and classified in the national qualification plan. It is now important to “roll up our sleeves” for the specific offers.

Eva Blimlinger (Greens) also sees a fundamental paradigm shift towards formalized qualifications in this area, including inclusion in the national qualifications framework. She emphasized that both apprentices and those with years of professional experience will have access to this formalized training. This means further development for the entire Austrian society.

Petra Oberrauner (SPÖ) and Christoph Matznetter (SPÖ) agreed that the measure was important, for example to counteract the shortage of skilled workers and to provide the opportunity for higher education. Overall, however, both criticized the fact that the government had not taken enough measures to counteract the current challenges, for example with regard to high inflation.

Maximilian Linder (FPÖ) also said that the new further training opportunity and the additional qualifications would create career advancement opportunities and social recognition. Just as the master’s examination fees are now covered by the federal government, in his view this should also be introduced for the HBB sector. Yannick Shetty (NEOS) welcomed the fact that the guiding principle that vocational and academic training are of equal importance would be continued. From his point of view, vocational students are currently still being treated as second-class students. But teaching should be made a priority. According to him, there should also be more discussion about anchoring career orientation more firmly in the lower grades.

Economics Minister Martin Kocher emphasized that Austria’s system of dual training and apprenticeships was the envy of the world. The HBB Act sets the framework for further qualification steps after the apprenticeship. What is now needed is a concrete filling of the content in order to demonstrate this new opportunity, says Kocher, who sees a “heyday of teaching” coming in this regard.

Ensuring smooth broadband expansion

With a motion for a resolution, the coalition factions are committed to ensuring a smooth process broadband expansion a. They are particularly concerned that the laying of broadband connections does not lead to delays in construction projects. The federal government should therefore, among other things, examine how coordination and cooperation in relocation projects can be improved.

All political groups except NEOS spoke out in favor of the initiative. Douglas Hoyos-Trauttmansdorff (NEOS) criticized the fact that a lot of money had been spent on broadband expansion in the last four years, but that it was still stalling. The money doesn’t arrive and no thought is given to how bureaucracy can be reduced.

Eva-Maria Himmelbauer (ÖVP) considers the NEOS conclusion to be incorrect and, like Joachim Schnabel (ÖVP) and Süleyman Zorba (Greens), pointed out that the proportion of gigabit-capable connections in households has increased from 13% to 69 in recent years % has increased. The motion for a resolution aims to create solutions for certain problems, especially since broadband expansion is also an investment in the future. Schnabel emphasized that there needs to be a collaboration between the federal, state and local governments to expand broadband. The aim is to ensure that there is no digital divide between urban and rural areas. Well-developed broadband infrastructure is also the key to economic growth, says Zorba. The proposal is, among other things, about ways to speed up coordination between market participants, for example when it comes to co-location, and about ensuring that no “blind spots” arise.

Petra Oberrauner (SPÖ) emphasized that ensuring broadband expansion must be the federal government’s concern. Overall, the dependence on this infrastructure continues to increase. It affects almost all areas, from quality of life to services to competitiveness. According to her, it would have been all the more important to involve the cities and municipalities in the implementation in order to accelerate it. From the perspective of Melanie Erasim (SPÖ), broadband is one of the most important lifelines of the future. She does not consider a motion for a resolution like this one to be an adequate means, but will still agree to it.

The grievances that are now being addressed are all known and not new, said Gerhard Deimek (FPÖ). Ultimately, in a divided market, no one would expand and people would not get broadband connections. What he misses from the State Secretary is a concrete solution concept.

State Secretary Florian Tursky explained that in the early 2000s it was not recognized that the fiber optic network, such as sewers and electricity, was part of public services and equal competition for rural areas. However, the federal government has so far responded with two broadband billion. Since the end of 2019, gigabit coverage has also increased from 13% to 69%, he emphasized. But the general conditions have also changed. It is therefore important to take a closer look at them again.

Register for emissions from boiler systems

Uniform standards regarding pollutant emissions from boiler systems as well as administrative simplifications are the goals of an amendment to the Emissions Protection Act for boiler systems. On the one hand, this is intended to implement an EU directive and, on the other hand, a letter from the European Commission is to be taken into account as part of infringement proceedings in this area. What is primarily required is the establishment of a register and the one-off registration of medium-sized systems with a fuel thermal output of at least 1 megawatt (MW) and – with certain exceptions in the case of aggregation systems – less than 50 MW. The corresponding one Government template was unanimously approved by the National Council. (Continuation of the National Council) mbu

NOTE: Meetings of the National Council and the Federal Council can also be followed via live stream and are available as video-on-demand in the Parliament’s media library available.

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