It could be the classic advantage for everyone with enough nursery offers in schools – at least in the eyes of Korinna Schumann, Vice-President of the ÖGB and current President of the Federal Council (SPÖ): “Women could do a job better, keyword: fight poverty in old age. There would be more qualified specialists for the economy and quality support for children “.
All in the subjunctive: the federal government has ordered schools to reach 40 percent of childcare options by 2033 at the latest. However, many cities and communities are a long way from this. A study by the KDZ Center for Administrative Research on the expansion potential of school and out-of-school day care for the Vienna Chamber of Labor shows: Overall, the care rate for children aged 6-14 is 32% ; in Vienna with 51, in Burgenland with 40 per cent more. In Salzburg, Lower and Upper Austria with 26 percent and in Tyrol with only 18 percent significantly lower. In small communities (up to 5,000 inhabitants) the rate drops to 23 percent, in larger cities with a population of 50,000 or more (excluding Vienna) it rises to 38 percent in schools.
AK Vienna director Silvia Hruška-Frank “is not primarily concerned with the quota”, as she says. “The really decisive thing is what it brings: more justice in the school system. If three levels are responsible for the same schoolchild, there will be losses of friction in terms of quality.” That’s why ÖGB and AK are not only demanding more money, but also a clear division of responsibilities in day care between federal, state and local governments.
You can talk about money
The topic is not only to be discussed, but also to be talked about. Specifically, Thomas Schmid, then head of the cabinet of the Ministry of Finance, wrote at the end of June 2016 to the future chancellor of the ÖVP Sebastian Kurz – “Mega explosives”: “Goal 1.2 billion for the after-school with right”. Kurz’s response: “Not good at all !!! How can you stop it?”
From the 1.2 billion, the SPÖ-ÖVP government actually earned “only” 750 million euros for the years 2017-2025 to reach the target of 40 percent of the children cared for. ÖVP Education Minister Heinz Faßmann has again reduced the funding to 428 million euros and postponed the target date to 2033.
According to the Education Investment Act, up until recently there was 30 million euros per year in funding for municipalities from the federal government. However, the KDZ study shows that municipalities have not even raised these funds. That is why, according to the study, a total of € 135 million was available with funds from previous years for the 2019/20 school year. According to the ministry, around 133 million euros of special grants will be available by the end of the 2023/24 school year. Because only around 55 million euros in special grants were called up last year.
In the government program of the ÖVP and the Greens, support in schools is registered as a concern. In the spring, the federal government negotiated with finance executives in the federal states, and in the summer the result was recorded in a new education investment law. “The federal government has fully met the request of the state financial advisors conference since April 2021,” according to the ministry. By the way, the funds can be used more flexibly and increased from the old agreements 15a to 100 instead of the previous 80%.
confusion of skills
The study addressed the topic not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively in the context of an investigation. One of the authors of the KDZ study, Karoline Mitterer, tells the “Wiener Zeitung” that she was told in a community that a full-time employee had to try to get funding: “The effort required to present and present later does not mean that. . ” Furthermore, only the necessary building interventions directly with the nursery, such as a kitchen, are financed, “but often a complete reconversion of a school building would be necessary”.
The main reason, however, is that it is difficult to find competent staff to look after children in schools. “Actually, you need recreational educators from 7:00 pm to 7:45 pm, from 11:00 pm to 1:00 pm and again from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm,” says Mitterer. “But who wants such working hours?” It is not possible to oblige the teaching staff, if they take care voluntarily, receive less money: “An hour of free time assistance is paid only half an hour of instruction”, says the expert of the KDZ. Additionally, schools compete with daycare centers and after-school care centers for staff.
To counter this problem, the federal government will in future provide federal states with additional funding for five afternoon hours for teachers under the position plan, which is approximately € 109 million per year.
But that’s not all: municipalities are responsible for school buildings and staff for recreational education, states for state schools, the federal government for AHS, and lesson plans. “Some municipalities told us that they would have to buy two footballs or fund separate classrooms for lessons and leisure time, which makes no sense from a technical point of view,” Mitterer said of “massive coordination and interface problems”. The ministry says it is aware of the problem and is working on a solution.
Incidentally, municipalities that are pioneers in around-the-clock care claim a fourth “win” for themselves: 87% said that since the introduction of the all-day care offering they have become “more attractive than residential locations. and commercial “.
