Green Party Advocates for Hundreds of New German Language Support Staff
Additionally, 200 new social workers are to be employed in schools, said Green education spokesperson Sigrid Maurer at a press conference on Thursday. Half of them are to be deployed in Vienna, emphasized the Green top candidate for the municipal elections, Judith Pühringer.
"Investment is needed in schools and kindergartens"
To justify the planned pause in family reunification for refugees, the government primarily cited an emergency in schools, argued Maurer. The coalition is eager to stop the reunification. "But what does the government want to do to get the acute emergency in schools under control? I don't see any eagerness there."
Despite the budget situation, money must be spent on additional teaching and support staff, said Maurer. "Investment is needed in schools and kindergartens." This is not just about problems caused by people who have recently arrived in the country. Half of the extraordinary students - those who cannot follow the lessons due to a lack of German skills - were born in Austria and thus attended kindergarten here.
"Pink total failure": Greens criticize NEOS
Maurer partly blamed the ÖVP for this: They have held the education minister position since 2017. In Vienna, the current department head Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) was responsible as city councilor for the area. He would have had the competence to employ more support staff in kindergartens, assisted Pühringer, identifying a "pink total failure." "After five years of Wiederkehr, it must be noted: No child in Vienna has more opportunities today than five years ago."
The NEOS naturally reacted with little enthusiasm: "Even in the Vienna election campaign, the Greens should stick to the facts instead of talking everything down and looking for scapegoats for their own failure as a previous government partner," said the pink education spokesperson Martina von Künsberg Sarre in a statement. Since the NEOS have been in the state government in Vienna, they have invested far more in education with four billion euros annually than any other federal state before. For example, they have increased the number of language support staff for kindergartens to nearly 500, introduced free summer German courses for thousands of children, and implemented administrative relief for schools.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.