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There will be supplementary classes in the schools during the semester holidays. Education Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) announced this at a press conference on Saturday. As in summer schools, participation is not mandatory for students. For the time being, he turned down a discussion about shortening the summer vacation. There will be no mandatory test for students as a prerequisite for returning to class starting January 18.
After the Christmas holidays, school starts on January 7 for all grade levels in distance education. “Students and parents are already familiar with the procedure,” says Fassmann. Similar rules apply here to the second closure: schools are reopened to all students up to 14 years of age who need care or support with learning. You can complete work orders there or follow distance learning on existing devices.
Students from the upper levels of AHS, BMHS and vocational schools can, as before, be brought to the locations between January 7 and 15 for attendance phases, for example, for practical exercises in order to be prepared for school work or to write them. The main focus is on the final classes. At the same time, however, never more than half of the students in a place can be present at the same time.
Classroom lessons starting January 18
For all students, face-to-face classes must start again on January 18. Submitting a negative test result will not be a prerequisite for participation, Faßmann says. Otherwise, this would be an incentive for some not to get tested.
The school’s message, known as the semester report, is normally distributed, followed by the semester recess, which is staggered by federal state. They want to adhere to these formal structures, with the closures there is already a back and forth, Faßmann said. However, schools remain open for so-called supplementary lessons during the semester holidays; This is a non-mandatory lesson for students, such as the one offered for high school graduation classes between grades and exams or in summer schools. This must be kept voluntarily by teachers who are paid overtime for it, or by students of teachers who are employed and paid under a special contract.
In addition, the number of places in summer schools will double, Faßmann announced. In addition, they are working on an extensive support program for all school levels starting in the summer semester, which provides contingents for additional hours for support and complementary lessons and must be of at least 100 million euros.
No debate on summer break
Faßmann does not currently want to talk about shortening the summer holidays. He already understands the desire for a certain degree of predictability, but now it’s too early for that. “I invite everyone, including state governors, who thinks there should be a shortening, to participate in our summer school.” Previously, the Governor of Carinthia, Peter Kaiser (SPÖ), had asked for the summer holidays to be shortened.
For the period between January 7 and 15, the compulsory kindergarten is lifted for the last year of kindergarten; the kindergartens are normally open. Meanwhile, the GPA criticized in a broadcast that some federal states did not reimburse private kindergarten operators the negotiated crown bonus of 300 euros for their employees.
