Despite financial shortfalls: Education remains requiring significant resources
Rewritten Article:
Austrian Education Budget 2025-2026: Focus on German Language Support
Brace yourself, as the first budget speech by Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPO) nears on May 13. The budget for '25 and '26 is under review, with all sector ministers required to collaborate with Marterbauer to sketch the spending plans - a tall order given the 6.4 billion euros savings target for this very year.
One of the first ministers to strike an agreement with Marterbauer seems to be Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (Neos). The catch? Wiederkehr insists that his ministry will join the savings package. Minimizing savings in education appears challenging, especially given kindergarten to secondary school demands. Consequently, the savings here boil down to reducing additional costs, around 76 million euros less, according to the ministry. With this, the education sector will see a surplus of 478.5 million euros compared to the previous year, with the ministry budget totalling nearly twelve billion euros (11.996 billion euros). The biggest portion of this budget goes toward teacher salaries and school rents for around 125,000 teachers and 5,500 schools respectively.
German Language Promotion on the Rise
The most significant rise, accounting for 61 million euros and 1,300 new positions by the end of 2026, will affect German language promotion. The plan includes a mandatory summer school for exceptional students - those with insufficient German skills.
From the following year (until 2027), 65 million euros will be allocated specifically for hotspot schools, which are educational institutions with a student population generally from poorer, less educated backgrounds. There will be at least 600 such schools across Austria - the previous government having also financially improved 100 schools due to budget constraints.
Education and Personnel Offensive: 2025-2026
Around 10 million euros is set aside for new early childhood education training places, and 21 million for specialists who can take up pedagogical-administrative tasks in 2026. However, most savings are made in school administration (51 million).
German Language Support: Enrichment Insights
Austria’s federal government plans a significant commitment to German language support in schools from 2025/26, with a special focus on children and youth from migrant backgrounds or newly arrived due to relocation or family reunification.
- Doubling Support: By 2025/26, the government intends to nearly double the number of dedicated teaching positions for German language support, from the current 577 positions to over 1,324 - an increase of around 130%.
- Increased Funding: An additional EUR 62 million per year will be allocated, bringing the total annual funding for German language acquisition to EUR 108 million.
- Needs-Based Allocation: Starting in 2025/26, resource allocation will be based on precise, needs-oriented criteria, ensuring hotspots and schools with high demand receive more support.
- Planning Security: The new funding logic is aimed at providing long-term planning security for school administrators, allowing for better and more flexible responses to actual needs at the school and state levels[1].
[1] Enrichment Data Source: unido.education.gv.at
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- Apparently, Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer has agreed with Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr for a savings package in the education sector, with the savings expected to be around 76 million euros less.
- In the budget for 2025-2026, it appears that the Finance Minister has set aside 61 million euros for German language promotion, which will result in 1,300 new positions by the end of 2026.
- Reportedly, the Austrian government plans to double the number of dedicated teaching positions for German language support from the current 577 to over 1,324 positions by 2025/26, with an additional 62 million euros per year in funding allocated for German language acquisition.
