Upper Austria still has 162 teaching positions unfilled

With four weeks remaining until the new school year begins, 162 full and part time teaching positions remain unfilled in Upper Austria, ORF reports. The greatest demand is for teachers of German, English and mathematics.

Schools are also seeking staff for science subjects, inclusive education, girls’ physical education and religious education.

Upper Austria has almost 22,000 teachers in total, meaning that around 0.74 percent of positions are currently vacant. The state ranks eighth among Austria’s provinces, with only Vorarlberg facing a greater shortage.

According to the Upper Austrian education directorate, primary and middle schools are particularly affected. A new recruitment round for these schools is scheduled to begin on August 27. Religious education teachers are among those most urgently needed alongside teachers for the main subjects.

The education directorate said it expected the remaining vacancies at primary and middle schools to be filled and the school year to begin successfully, based on experience from previous years. If necessary, the Education Ministry said schools would have to improvise, including through overtime and the use of career changers.

All positions are reportedly filled at academic secondary schools, vocational intermediate and higher schools, vocational schools and agricultural specialist schools.

Reinhard Ammer, the Greens’ education spokesman, described the teacher shortage as a permanent condition that becomes more pressing at the start of every school year. The party is calling for teachers to be relieved of administrative duties and bureaucracy to make the profession more attractive.

Until that happens, Ammer said, schools would continue to fill gaps through overtime, teaching outside teachers’ specialist subjects and special contracts.