Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) wants to promote the “raw material” of skilled workers with an offensive in 2024: On Tuesday he presented the expansion of technical college places specifically in the area of MINT subjects as well as a valorization of the logistics company Knapp AG in Hart near Graz Funding for the vocational baccalaureate. “The need for well-trained specialists is high everywhere,” said Polaschek. You have to interest young people in these areas.
From the 2024/2025 academic year, 353 additional study places will be offered: This is the second expansion step of the technical college development and financing plan launched last year, in which a total of 1,050 new, federally financed university places can be awarded. The funding totals 1.8 billion euros. Of this, around 500 million euros will flow to universities throughout Austria in 2024 alone.
With the new semester in autumn, 13 new courses will appear at the universities of applied sciences. 17 of the 21 technical colleges took part in the tender in autumn 2023. The focus is on the areas of MINT (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology), digitalization and sustainability, but interdisciplinary courses were also taken into account. Of the 353 new places, 175 are for bachelor’s degrees and 178 are for master’s degrees.
Most of the new places are offered in Vienna with 132, followed by 120 in Lower Austria, 46 in Tyrol, 25 in Burgenland, 20 in Styria and ten in Salzburg. Among the new study offerings there is also a master’s degree course called “European Green Transformation” at the FH Joanneum in Styria, emphasized Styrian Economic Affairs Councilor Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) at the press conference. Not only technical basics but also economic and social skills are discussed there with a view to the “European Green Deal”. The course is also aimed at an international audience and is taught in English.
As in the previous year, the federal funding rate for apprenticeships leading to a Matura will be increased by seven percent in 2024. This means that young people each receive a maximum of 6,867 euros in funding for preparatory courses. In 2024, a total of 14 million euros will be earmarked for financial support of the vocational baccalaureate, which has been established since 2008. Around 13,000 people actively take part in the program every year, including more than 2,000 in Styria. The proportion of apprentices in their first year of training is 11.5 percent.
Christian Grabner, board member of Knapp AG, also sees well-educated people as a “true raw material” and thus echoes the minister. But he also hopes that the view of work will change, because it can also be “something fulfilling”. You have to get away from just looking forward to the weekend from Monday to Friday. Of Knapp AG’s current 7,500 employees, around 4,000 work in Styria, three quarters of them at the headquarters in Hart near Graz. Almost all of the company’s approximately 120 apprentices would continue to be employed in the company.
2024-02-06 19:52:00
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