Illegal!

Mother banned from school

The court's decision is clear: the mother will be fined 220 euros per child.

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Illegal home schooling! A woman from the city of Salzburg has now been fined once again - because she simply doesn't want to send her two children (11, 13) to school.

All children from the age of six actually have to attend school for nine years - in accordance with the Compulsory Education Act. However, there is an alternative in the form of home schooling. The most important condition: Pupils must pass an external exam at the end of the school year. If the result is negative, the notification of compulsory school attendance arrives. This means that the child in question has to go back to school for the next school year.

Even the third punishment didn't impress the mother
But what if parents don't give a damn and leave their children at home anyway? Then notices flutter into the house again, but in the form of fines. This is also the case with a woman from Salzburg who refuses to send her two school-age children, aged 13 and eleven, to school. She now has to pay 220 euros per child. And it was already the third fine imposed, according to a decision by the Salzburg Provincial Administrative Court.

The legal guardian and her partner repeatedly appealed against the fines. They even complained about a double punishment, as penalties had already been imposed in November 2023 and May 2024 for the "absence of their children from school". The parents' complaint stated that the children had been able to make great progress during their time at home through self-determined learning and that they recognized a "danger to child development" if their children returned to school.

Both children failed their external exams
The fact is: the pupils were taught at home for the first time in the 2021/22 school year - approved at the time. Both failed the first external exam. In September 2022, the decision to attend compulsory school was issued. However, neither child has attended school to date. Instead, the authorities have now imposed a fine for the third time. And if the "unlawful situation is maintained", according to the court, more could follow. In the decision, the judges also emphasize that the woman "violated the fundamental rights of school-age children to instruction and education".

110 pupils are being taught at home in Salzburg this school year, according to Education Director Rudolf Mair - only a quarter compared to the coronavirus years. "Last school year, 80 pupils passed the external exam, eight did not," explains Mair in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper.

Education director Rudolf Mair has no sympathy for persistent truants.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

These eight children should actually be going to school this year. "Anyone who doesn't send their children to school after a negative test is acting illegally. After all, it's about the right to education," emphasizes Mair. And the penalties? According to the law, the authorities can only impose a maximum fine of just 440 euros. "In the case of stubborn refusers, you should think about adjusting it," says Mair.