ÖVP says Vorarlberg’s 11 Chancenbonus schools are too few
Wednesday 9th September 2026 on 20:45 in
Austria
Eleven schools in Vorarlberg will receive additional support under the federal Chancenbonus programme, which provides extra resources to schools facing particular social or linguistic challenges. ORF reported that the state’s NEOS party welcomed the programme, while the Austrian People’s Party, or ÖVP, said too few Vorarlberg schools had been included.
Across Austria, 400 primary and lower secondary schools will receive support under the programme from the new school year. The federal government has allocated around 65 million euros annually and up to 800 additional full-time positions.
Schools can decide how to use the resources, including for additional teachers, school social work or school psychology.
Vorarlberg NEOS education spokesperson Katharina Fuchs called the Chancenbonus an important step towards greater equality of opportunity. She said schools should be able to deploy the additional resources according to their specific needs, particularly where they face greater social, linguistic or psychosocial challenges.
NEOS also said the federal funding should supplement existing support from the state. Vorarlberg should use the new opportunities to further strengthen assistance for schools facing the greatest demands, the party said.
The ÖVP also welcomed the basic model but criticised its limited scope in Vorarlberg. Education spokesperson Veronika Marte said she could not understand why only 11 of the 400 schools receiving support nationwide were in Vorarlberg. In her view, many more schools in the state needed additional assistance.
Marte also said Vorarlberg had operated a comparable model in compulsory schools for several years, claiming that NEOS Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr had adopted the idea.
In addition to more resources, Marte called for a stronger focus on reading, writing and mathematics, as well as early German-language support. She said the government must also ensure that enough qualified staff were trained to fill the additional positions.