The state of Vorarlberg wants to make a new start when it comes to a common school for 10 to 14 year olds. A discussion took place on Wednesday at “Vorarlberg LIVE”.
The discussion about the introduction of the joint school for 10 to 14 year olds will probably remain unfinished for a long time to come. This also became clear during a round of talks moderated by UN editor Klaus Hämmerle as part of “Vorarlberg LIVE”.
Vorarlberg committed to introducing the Common School in 2015, after a broad-based research project had started two years previously. “I take the recommendations of the research project very seriously. We need the way there. And we have that,” said the school district councilor, adding: “I want to condense, concentrate and reduce the project and set a clear schedule. The goal is to enable fair coordination in the respective schools.” The goal of the Vorarlberg model region is not unattainable, but the project needs to be downsized. “Common school” should therefore not apply to all of Vorarlberg, but only to a specific region.
The school district councilor explains that many more children who have attended middle school graduate with a high school diploma than children who have attended grammar school in the lower grades. With this statement, she wants to take the pressure off the parents if their child has not been accepted into high school. Above all, she focuses on the children.
“Savings due to lack of money”
“Gymnasium is a good type of school,” says Gerald Fenkart. He thinks the current system is a good one. Austria has “a school system of different speeds”. In principle, the director of the federal high school in Bludenz assumes that many savings would take place due to financial shortcomings. “If something like this is introduced, you will have to adjust to a smaller situation – there will have to be savings in teachers and places” He emphasizes the importance of day care. “We should take care of these children so that they can get an education.”
The entire broadcast
“I’m disappointed”
“I am disappointed with the statements made by the regional school councillor,” said Harald Walser, the former headmaster of the Bundesgymnasium Feldkirch. A sorting of children at the age of nine is unbearable. “Let’s think of the children! Let’s finally start here with a fundamental reform.” In order to introduce a model region in Vorarlberg, you would have to position yourself clearly from the state side and also from Vienna. “Let’s stop this nonsense, let’s do a good common school”. According to Walser, not all common schools are good.
“There are losers. It’s the children, the parents and their grandparents,” says Walser. He is an “absolute representative of the grammar school” and says: “The current school system is one of the most expensive because we separate the children.” Modern countries would have far better outcomes, better student achievement and fewer problem students. Austria has an “expensive and inefficient school system,” says Walser.
According to the school district councilor, a vote should only be possible in about eight years. “I think it’s important to involve the schools and parents and not drive over them,” says Schöbi-Fink.
The broadcast “Vorarlberg LIVE” is a cooperation between VOL.AT, VN.at, Ländle TV and VOL.AT TV and is broadcast from Monday to Friday from 5 p.m. There’s more here.
