Education psychologist calls for summer school for all pupils
Tuesday 15th September 2026 on 11:00 in
Austria
Education psychologist Christiane Spiel has proposed expanding Austria’s three-week summer school so that it would generally be available to all pupils, ORF reports. Families would be able to opt out if they could provide a reason, such as a child’s very good grades or a lack of need for supervision.
Spiel said the existing programme could be expanded, generalised and systematised rather than replaced. Under her proposal, all pupils in primary school and through the eighth school year would initially attend the summer school.
She said the programme could help children return to a daily routine, meet their friends and revise learning material or catch up on difficulties. It would not be compulsory subject-based teaching, she said, but could provide support before the new school year. Reading support could also be offered.
More teacher-training students and career changers could teach in the programme under supervision, Spiel said. Summer school could potentially become part of the curriculum at universities and teacher-training colleges, with participants later discussing their experiences in a reflection seminar. Student teachers could, for example, learn classroom management without the pressure of immediately having to teach subject content.
Spiel said she would not change the overall length of school holidays. Austria is in the middle range in Europe, she said, and children needed a break from the high level of stress at school, particularly during the winter term.
However, she said nine weeks of summer holidays should be reconsidered because longer breaks increased the likelihood of learning losses and social disadvantages. She identified particular problems for children who do not speak German during the summer because they travel with their parents to their families’ home countries.
If three weeks were removed from the holidays, as proposed by Chamber of Commerce President Martha Schultz, Austria would have one of the shortest holiday periods in Europe, Spiel said.