2023-11-25 05:06:07
In compulsory schools there are significantly more students who need special educational support than there are support offers. According to a study commissioned by the Ministry of Education, 4.5 percent of all compulsory school students have special educational needs (SPF). However, according to a regulation established in 1992, there are only additional teachers from the federal government for a maximum of 2.7 percent of students in each federal state. Boys are affected significantly more often than girls.
At the beginning of the 2022/23 school year, 3.4 percent of girls were identified as having special educational needs, compared to 5.4 percent of boys. Children whose everyday language is not German are also significantly disproportionately affected. At 5.9 percent, the need for support among children who speak non-German is significantly higher than that of children who speak German (3.8 percent). There are also big differences between the individual federal states: in Salzburg, 6.7 percent of students were identified as needing support, but in Tyrol only 2.4 percent were found to be in need of support.
The fact that the resources are capped at 2.7 percent is almost universally criticized by the actors from the education directorates interviewed in qualitative interviews as part of the study. The limit set in the 1992 financial equalization would force the education directorates, among other things, to divert resources from the regular school system. According to most interviewees, the states do not see themselves in a position to provide the missing resources, which leads to fewer teaching hours and a lack of personnel support services. According to some respondents, this trend has increased in recent years.
According to data collected by the education directorates as part of the study, there were a total of around 26,000 students with special educational needs in compulsory schools in Austria in October 2022. The SPF status is intended if students are unable to follow lessons without special educational support due to a long-term physical, mental or psychological impairment. They can then be supported by special teaching materials or appropriate teachers or taught in one or more subjects according to the curriculum of a lower school level or other type of school.
SPF is explicitly not intended for students who are not developed appropriately for their age at the beginning of elementary school, do not know the language of instruction or have learning problems (e.g. learning or arithmetic difficulties, behavioral problems, language disorders). For these, attendance at a preschool class or a German remedial class or other support and support measures are planned.
Despite the results of the study, the Ministry of Education believes that “pupils with disabilities are adequately supported and accompanied in the school system,” as it said in a press release. Particular reference was made to the high level of satisfaction among parents with the procedural practice and the results, according to the study. The Ministry of Education concluded that it is now important to investigate the causes and create uniform criteria for the procedure throughout Austria, in any case significantly shortening the process.
The NEOS then accused Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) of glossing over the study results and insisting on the so-called SPF cap of 2.7 percent, which had become “obsolete”. “Without resources and staff to provide the necessary support for the children affected, inclusion in the education system remains an empty phrase,” said NEOS education spokeswoman Martina Künsberg Sarre in a statement. NEOS’s disability spokesperson, Fiona Fiedler, announced a motion next week in the Education Committee so that Austria “fulfills its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and enables children with disabilities to fully participate in education.”
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