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21. 05. 12. - 15:16
Private education establishments want more financing
Schools and kindergarten initiatives in Lower Austria that are owned privately feel discriminated as the provincial government denies paying them more.
There are 70 private education initiatives – kindergartens, private schools and care facilities - in Lower Austria, and according to Andrea Pisa at the Platform for Private Education they all feel "starved and discriminated."
She said: "We are only paid 15 per cent of the costs of every child, costs that are fully financed at schools owned by the state. Other provinces finance their privately owned education establishments much better."
She added that the government would be expanding the amount of students at the schools, and that not increasing the funding would force private schools to lower their teachers’ wages.
At the office of the provincial councillor Karl Wilfing (ÖVP) no one has heard of the supposed expansion of student places. According to the provincial council, the federal government has given more money to private education, but they have no such plans locally.
Provincial councillor Barbara Schwarz (ÖVP) said: "There are enough kindergarten places in Lower Austria. Those who choose a private school for their child should expect higher costs."
