25,000 children, i.e. 15 percent of all Upper Austrian schoolchildren, did not receive paid tutoring in the past school year, although they needed it. Around half of them could not afford the additional funding. This shows a survey of the Chamber of Labor among legal guardians. And the trend is increasing: in 2018, there were still eight percent who wanted tutoring but could not afford it.
Criticism comes from Andreas Stangl, President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labour: “Success at school must not depend on the income of the parents.” He sees a need for action, because the more support there is at school, the less the parents are burdened financially or in terms of time.
20 percent had tutoring
Parents spent a total of 11.5 million euros on tutoring in the past school year. One in five students took advantage of external tutoring in the 2021/22 school year, and more than half of them paid for it. The other children took advantage of unpaid tutoring from parents, relatives or friends. The average cost is 570 euros per child. The most external support is needed in the subject of mathematics: almost two thirds of the tutoring given in the last school year was for the “anxious subject”. German and foreign languages shared second place.
AK demands all-day school
The current price increases and the pandemic would represent an additional burden, says Stangl. The Chamber of Labor therefore welcomes the federal government’s decision to adjust child benefit to inflation from January 2023. The cost contribution of 150 euros per semester for private tutoring, which the state government provides, is positive, but should be higher in view of the prices Stangl.
But that’s not all: The AK President calls for an expansion of school support and all-day schools, which should reduce the need for private tutoring.
Source: Nachrichten
