New school year begins in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland

Among them are around 42,500 “Taferlklassler” who are sitting in a classroom for the first time. There are new curricula this year in the first classes of elementary schools, AHS lower grades and middle schools. Another innovation: the nursing schools are no longer pilot projects, but part of the regular school system.

There is still a shortage of trained teachers in schools. For this reason, students studying to become teachers, career changers, overtime and a few retirees are being used again. Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP), however, has promised that with these measures every lesson can be held. In the remaining federal states, the new school year begins a week later. There will be a total of 1.15 million pupils this year, 97,000 of whom are “Taferl” students.