Almost in every school

Three out of four teachers quit before retirement age

Many teachers retire earlier than they should - this increases the pressure that there is a shortage of teachers everywhere

(Bild: Corri Seizinger - stock.adobe.com)

There is a shortage of teachers at almost all secondary schools in Upper Austria. The SPÖ is calling for measures to keep the existing ones in the job for longer, because according to an evaluation of retirements, three out of four teachers could - and even should - stay in the classroom longer.

Education officer Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) says she is worried about the future due to the virulent shortage of teachers in Upper Austria. There are too few teachers in almost all subjects in local secondary schools, as recently emerged from Haberlander's response to an SPÖ parliamentary question. Last year, for example, there was a shortage of 221 PE teachers, i.e. de facto one in each of the 217 secondary schools.

"Measures must be taken"
The red education spokesperson Doris Margreiter is not satisfied with the worrying view of the responsible deputy governor. She is calling for concrete measures and will formulate this in an oral question in the state parliament next Thursday. Margreiter is focusing on the fact that the state is losing numerous teachers who leave before the actual retirement age. According to the latest ACA report, 375 out of 484 "pensioners" retired early with financial deductions last year - that is 77%. Only 68 (14%) took regular retirement, the rest retired due to disability.

Shortage of subjects on the curriculum in Upper Austria
Margreiter wants to know what Haberlander is planning "to motivate teachers to stay in the profession longer in order to overcome the shortage of teachers". The SP politician has a possible answer ready herself: the biggest shortage subjects should "finally be able to be studied in Upper Austria" - such as sport, for example, for which prospective young teachers currently have to "commute" to Salzburg.