Tyrol union criticises new rules at vocational boarding houses

Tyrol’s trade union youth organisation has criticised new rules at vocational school boarding houses, which are closed during the day and require sick students to remain at school until relatives can collect them, ORF reports.

Since the start of this school year, the boarding houses at Lohbachufer and Mandelsberg have been closed from Monday to Thursday between 8am and 4.30pm. Students who fall ill are generally expected to go home. Until a relative arrives to collect them, they must stay at school.

The rules were introduced by the Tyrol provincial government. It told ORF Tirol that schools are responsible for supervising students until their scheduled lessons end, after which supervision falls to the vocational school boarding houses. The government said a rise in students being released from lessons, as well as more cases of students being sent to the residences without prior notice, had overstretched their resources.

The directors of the affected vocational schools were informed at the end of the previous school year and asked to improve procedures. However, Tyrol’s education councillor, Cornelia Hagele of the Austrian People’s Party, is also dissatisfied with the current arrangement. A round table with all parties is due to take place soon to seek a better solution for this school year.

The union says the rules are impractical because many apprentices travel from far away to attend vocational school in blocks and cannot return to their boarding house during free periods. Schools are expected to provide common rooms, but the union says there is no guarantee of additional staff or resources.

“A vocational school boarding house is not just a place to sleep,” said Maximilian Baier, youth secretary of the GPA union in Tyrol. Apprentices live there during their training, study and prepare for exams, he said. Closing the buildings during the day takes away an important part of their home, and students should not have to find somewhere else to spend every free period while their rooms are empty.

The union is calling for the opening hours to be revised and for a supervised retreat space for students during free periods and for those who are ill but cannot be collected immediately. If supervision is moved to schools, it says, adequate staff and suitable rooms must be provided.