2024-07-25 10:08:30
Family reunions have recently put Vienna schools under further pressure, in addition to a lack of staff and many students requiring German-language support. Therefore, NEOS city councilor for education Christoph Wiederkehr has repeatedly called on the federal government for more funds, while Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) reacted on Thursday in a decidedly irritating way, mentioning, among other things, special funds that would particularly benefit Vienna. However, the Socialist Party criticized their distribution as “ridiculous”.
Wiederkehr recently highlighted in ZiB2 on Wednesday that both Vienna and the federal government face challenges in the current situation. He also held Polashek responsible for pointing out what Vienna needs in a year of open and direct dialogue. However, “no support” came from this, and in 2015 Vienna received a “huge support package” for the refugee movement from the federal authorities (then led by the SPÖ).
Polashek defended himself in a broadcast on Thursday, saying financial resources to deal with family reunification and the Ukraine crisis had “increased rapidly across the board”, with Vienna receiving “more resources than any other federal state”. An additional €47 million or more than 390 positions will be provided for the 2024/25 academic year, for example to divide students into small groups or hire more support teachers in courses.
“The city of Vienna in particular benefits from this,” the broadcast emphasized. Specifically, there is an additional €6.9 million or 85 permanent positions in the federal capital. In addition, resources for promoting the German language have recently increased by 30% to 40 million euros; in Vienna, an increase of 18.7 million euros, or 231 positions. The City of Vienna therefore receives 40.11% of all additional resources for the promotion of the German language.
Additionally, since 2020, the number of school social workers in Vienna schools has increased from 22 to 70 and school psychology to 40 (although the federal and state governments are sharing the cost here, mind you). “Of course, we can only solve the challenges in our education system comprehensively and together,” Polasek said. “But if Deputy Mayor Wiedeker keeps trying to shift his political responsibilities to the federal government, that’s not going to work.”
Meanwhile, the federal SPÖ criticized the distribution of special cans. Although family reunification mainly affects Vienna, the distribution of the money among the federal states according to the total number of students is “conceivably absurd”. “This is like allocating funds for metros throughout Austria, even though the metros only exist in Vienna,” integration spokesman Christian Oksonich, a former Vienna city councilor for education, said in a statement to APA.
According to SPÖ calculations, 70% of children and teenagers who come to Austria through family reunification go to school in Vienna. According to the staffing plan, only 21% of the new positions went to Vienna.
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