What pupils say:

“Political education often goes under”

Political education in schools is usually combined with history. Elections are at least selectively addressed.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Are young Upper Austrians well prepared for the upcoming election? "Not all of them," says Xaver Eicher from the Union of Secondary School Pupils, at the same time renewing the not entirely new demand for a separate subject.

As in many other school subjects, the same seems to apply to political education: It depends on the teacher. At least that is the experience of Xaver Eicher (18), regional chairman of the Union of Secondary School Students (UHS), who is currently doing community service after completing his A-levels last year. For this reason, the UHS has been calling for several years for the subject of democracy education and media studies to be firmly anchored in the curriculum from the seventh grade onwards.