Steiermark pledges more funding for school assistance

Steiermark Education Councillor Stefan Hermann said there would be no cuts to school assistance and that funding and available hours would increase this year, ORF reported on Wednesday.

Hermann made the announcement nearly two weeks before the start of the school year, alongside plans to introduce preparatory classes at 14 schools. The need for the classes emerged from discussions with schools, he said. The smallest class will be in Straß in southern Styria, with eight children.

“It is important to give children who are required to attend school but are not yet ready for school the opportunity to settle into lessons gradually,” Hermann said.

He said the state had amended its school assistance regulation to make support more targeted. School assistance is defined as a non-professional service, and pedagogical tasks are explicitly excluded.

Hermann also addressed the rise in school suspensions, which increased from 99 to 226 in one year. He attributed the increase partly to a mandatory support programme that he said was functioning well in Styria. He also said principals and teachers were choosing suspensions because they knew pupils would receive appropriate care during the suspension period.

“But we must not forget that violence in schools is increasing in all areas,” Hermann said, adding that this affected rural regions as well as urban areas.

Hermann welcomed the headscarf ban that took effect on September 1, but said teachers affected by its implementation needed more support.