Training
In 1962, Parliament passed a law that largely regulates
the education system. The provincial parliaments can only
issue certain provisions in the general framework. Since
education laws have constitutional status, a 2/3 majority is
required for admission. In practice, this requires a
consensus between the two major parties, which has been an
obstacle to decisive reforms. of the structure of the lower
secondary school, which meant that (1997) a parallel school
system from year 5 is still being applied.
There is a compulsory schooling from 6 to 15 years of
age. The majority attend public schools, only 7% in private
schools, most run by the Catholic Church. After 4 years of
primary school, the main part, about 2/3, continues in the
4-year Hauptschule, which is an extension of
primary school, while about 1/3 goes to 8-year-old high
school. This parallel school system continues at the
4-year upper secondary level, which receives 2/3 of the
students at the lower secondary level. The others go to a
5-year higher vocational school. Moving between school types
is rare. The high school's higher stage prepares for the
university. Practical vocational training is communicated
within the companies, and students usually spend one day a
week in vocational schools, where also some general
education is provided (duale Berufsbildung).
Austria traditionally has a rich selection of vocational
training programs. Check topschoolsintheusa for test centers of ACT, SAT, and GRE as well high schools in the country of Austria.
There are three types of university studies: 4-year
studies for the master's degree, which can be taken in over
a hundred subjects, studies for a doctorate for at least two
years after the master's degree, and a series of shorter
study programs which usually do not lead to the degree.
Austria has 12 universities and 6 colleges for aesthetic
subjects. The study period, especially the first-mentioned
courses, is usually considerably longer than the official
one, and only slightly more than half of the registered
university students take the degree.
In July 2016, the country took a major step towards the
police state, as the intelligence agency was given
far-reaching powers to collect, without control or
surveillance, electronic intelligence about all the nation's
citizens and people staying in the country.
The October 2017 parliamentary elections were a disaster
for the Greens who lost 8.6% and lost all 24 seats in
parliament. The ruling SPÖ retained its 52 seats, but at the
same time the right wing progressed. The conservative ÖVP
went 15 seats up to 62 and the Nazi FPÖ went up 11 seats up
to 51. Peter Pilz had previously been a member of the
Greens, but went out, formed his own list and came in with 8
seats. For almost two years - from mid-2015 to mid-17 - the
Nazi FPÖ had been the largest in the polls, with up to 35%
of the vote. Only in June 2017 was it overtaken by ÖVP.
After the election, ÖVP chairman Sebastian Kurz was given
the task of forming a new government. The SPÖ immediately
announced that the party would go into opposition, thus
paving the way for a conservative-Nazi government. It was
deployed in December despite extensive demonstrations in
Vienna. ÖVP got 8 ministers and FPÖ got 6. In addition to
the post of vice-chancellor, FPÖ also got the posts of
defense minister and interior minister. Another link was
inserted in the chain of right-wing governments down through
Europe from Norway over Denmark to Poland, Austria, Slovakia
and Hungary. The 31-year-old Kurz became the country's
youngest chancellor to date.
In May 2019, the government introduced a ban on headgear
among primary school students. The ban was aimed solely at
Muslims. The traditional headgear of the Sikhs and Jews was
explicitly excluded. (Austria approves headscarf ban in
primary schools, Guardian 16/5 2019)
Also in May, a video was published in which
Vice-Chancellor and Chairman of the FPÖ, Heinz-Christian
Strache promised public contracts to a supposed business
partner in return for financial support for the party. The
party was merely developing criminal links with the business
community in the same way as the Spanish PP and the Danish
Left. The announcement of the video led to the fall of the
government 10 days later as it lost a vote of confidence in
parliament. Despite the scandal, the conservative ÖVP went
7.5% up to 34.5% in the European Parliament elections the
day before, and the criminal FPÖ declined only marginally
2%. The country is now ruled by a technocrat government and
parliamentary elections will be held in September.
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