Alarm on the education front

Focus on schools: money trickles away, more violence

The number of violent excesses at local schools has set alarm bells ringing for the Minister of Education.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

How much do you earn with which education? Is success at school "inherited"? These and other questions are answered by the latest figures from Statistics Austria. Meanwhile, Education Minister Polaschek is calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered ...

The educational path taken by daughters and sons is still heavily dependent on the educational background of their parents. For example, the chances of a university degree are seven times higher for children with a university degree than for offspring whose mothers and fathers only have a compulsory school leaving certificate. "Educational mobility between generations is only weak in Austria and the course for an educational career is set early," explains Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas. Despite this, our level of education is rising steadily.

Who gets how far depends on other factors. After all, 82% of those who attend a lower secondary school after elementary school go on to achieve a Matura, with the proportion being higher for girls than for boys. The figure for secondary school graduates is 28 percent.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe)

As the job prospects for AHS graduates are not very lucrative, 66 percent of school leavers opt for a university. The figure is only 43.6 percent for those who attended a BHS. Once they reach university, one in three drop out of their bachelor's degree course within the first three semesters.

Education through the ages

• In 1981, 46% had a compulsory school leaving certificate, 31% an apprenticeship, 18% a middle or secondary school leaving certificate and only 4.5% a university degree.
• In 2021, 17.3% had a compulsory school leaving certificate, 32.6% an apprenticeship, 30.4% a middle or higher school leaving certificate and 19.7% a university degree.
• 400,000 students are now enrolled at Austrian universities. The educational level of Austrians is rising steadily.

A look at Austria's education expenditure provides an interesting aspect. At 10,447 euros per pupil, we are in second place among OECD countries. Only Luxembourg is ahead of us with 16,648 euros per capita. Despite the high per capita expenditure that we invest in education, the outcome of the PISA test in mathematics remains a nail-biter every time.

Explosive rise in violence at schools
Meanwhile, the number of violent excesses at local schools is causing alarm bells to ring for the Minister of Education. Whether it's online hate speech, property crimes or physical violence, the number of crimes rose to 5,984 in the previous year, compared to 3,363 in 2021, although homeschooling was still widespread at the time. Minister Martin Polaschek is now calling for criminal consequences and for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered to 12, as is Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

Our schools must be a safe place for everyone. Anyone who does not abide by the rules must expect the full consequences under criminal law. I call for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered to twelve.

Martin Polaschek, Bildungsminister (ÖVP)

Bild: Jöchl Martin

Every education directorate will have a contact person for problem cases in schools.

Furthermore, the focus will be on prevention. In addition, the ministry will focus on child protection in the coming school year under the motto: "Look instead of looking away". The budget for extremism and violence prevention workshops will also be increased by a further 50 percent to a total of 2.1 million euros.