Austria is making summer schooling mandatory for children who can’t speak fluent German as part of efforts to boost integration. Here’s how many students have registered for the programme so far this year.
Austria earlier this year approved mandatory summer school during the final two weeks of the nine-week summer break for children with poor German skills.
Now it’s emerged that around 48,200 students have registered so far, according to figures from the Education Ministry obtained by Der Standard.
Of those, around 14,300 students are legally required to attend. That means about 1,700 children still need to enroll.
However, there’s still a few weeks to go for parents to register children before the June 19th deadline.
Summer school, which begins on August 24th this year, is designed to prepare children and teenagers for the next school year. There’s a strong focus on German language skills but children can also study other subjects.
Last year, around 41,100 students registered for the programme, which was voluntary at the time.
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What is Austria’s summer schooling and who has to attend?
Austria is making extra classes during summer a mandatory requirement in stages.
This year, the new rule applies to around 16,000 students currently enrolled in intensive German support classes who are not yet eligible to move into mainstream classes.
During the 2027 summer break, lessons will also be mandatory for those enrolled in supplementary German language support courses.
On top of those who have to attend, around 33,900 children and teenagers have enrolled voluntarily this year.
The highest number of registrations overall is in Vienna, Lower Austria and Styria.
The classes are open to all children in Austria – regardless of their grades.
Families with children who are required to attend face steep fines for violating the rule.
Failure to attend is treated as a breach of compulsory schooling laws and can result in administrative fines of up to €1,000.
6,800 teachers registered
Of course, mandatory summer school means teachers need to work more during the summer.
Across Austria, around 6,800 teachers have signed up so far.
As an incentive, educators who teach at summer school either earn €60 per hour or have one fewer class period per week during the next school year.
The Austrian government has made increasing German language skills among young people one of its top priorities.
“The rising registration numbers for both teachers and students underscore the special importance of summer school as a sustainable support programme within the Austrian education system,” said Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS).
“After all, those who speak German, especially during the summer, have a clear advantage in the new school year.”
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However, not everyone is on board with mandatory summer school.
Teaching unions have said they would rather see resources invested during the school year.
Many children who struggle with German are not in Austria during the summer, noted Paul Kimberger, the top representative for compulsory school teachers from the Christian Trade Unionists’ Faction (FCG).
In an interview with Der Standard he said: “While the number of registrations is always quite high, attendance is dramatically lower.”