New school assistance

Criticism of new system: “Children have no lobby”

Teacher Alexander Schappek: "That borders on endangering the welfare of children."

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com, Christoph Hartner)

Two children with autism in two classes - and only 30 hours of school assistance. A teacher at a secondary school in Graz sounds the alarm: "A solution is urgently needed!" The new system in Styria is still bumpy. 

The introductory week on the Teichalm is coming up: a big, exciting event for the pupils of the first year at a secondary school in Graz. Among them are two children with autism who rely on the support of school assistants in their everyday lives. For one child, however, the mother has to go with them - because only one school assistant can be there next week.

Since this year, the system of school assistance in Styria has been restructured, and the criticism from affected parents, head teachers, teachers and supporting organizations has been unrelenting. Among them is Alexander Schappek, head of class at a secondary school: "The new law is a good idea in principle, but unfortunately it has been implemented horribly."

"The dimensions may have been underestimated"
The basic idea is that each of the thousands of children with support needs across Styria should no longer sit in class with their own assistant. In some cases, these assistants will now look after several children at the same time, so that lessons are less disrupted. The schools will be allocated a quota of hours that they can divide up flexibly.

The basic idea behind the new law is a good thing, but unfortunately it has been implemented horribly.

Lehrer Alexander Schappek

Nobody is bothered by this. However, all new applications are processed centrally in Provincial Department 6. "And they must have underestimated the dimensions," speculates someone who has deep insights into the system but wishes to remain anonymous. More staff are needed there. The second point of criticism is that the A6 employees are far removed from everyday school life and make judgments based on findings, but not on concrete experiences on site.

Teachers with a lot of unpaid overtime
Back to the case of the two autistic children: 30 hours of school assistance have been approved for them so far. "They each had 40 hours at elementary school," says Schappek. However, the boy and the girl cannot be taught in the same class, as they have completely different characters. Schappek: "Actually, someone always has to be with them." The teaching team is currently trying to fill the gaps with a high level of commitment and unpaid overtime - but this cannot be a permanent solution.

According to Schappek, more school assistance hours are urgently needed. The state education department defends itself: "It was stated that the two pupils are in the same class. The need for individual support could not be deduced from the findings and reports submitted." The requests for an increase in hours are examined very carefully and "efforts are being made to process the requests as quickly as possible". 

Incidentally, there is another child in the first year group who needs care and for whom no decision has yet been made: Here, however, the parents have submitted insufficient documentation.

"Applications are being submitted on an ongoing basis"
In general, according to the Department of Education, "applications are still being submitted on an ongoing basis, for example due to changes of school or requests for increased hours". For this reason, the department cannot estimate when all applications will be processed. "The regular applications have all been processed."

Niko Swatek (Neos, left) once again criticizes Provincial Councillor Werner Amon.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Christian Jauschowetz)

The Neos nevertheless renew their political criticism: "Countless children, parents and teachers are still being left out in the cold. The hopeless chaos that currently prevails with the all-important school assistance is not only unacceptable, but simply irresponsible! Provincial Councillor Werner Amon must finally put an end to his inaction."

Schappek (who is also running for an unelectable place on the Neos state list) speaks of "endangering the welfare of children" and says the thought-provoking sentence: "Children have no lobby, children with disabilities even less so."