Vienna Uni: Budget deficit shocker

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Education

The University of Vienna finished the last academic year with an unexpected deficit of 15 million Euros. Rector Heinz Engl said it had budgeted for a loss of 8 million but that the Constitutional Court’s decision to suspend student fees had blown the budget to pieces. The university had a positive balance in 2010 and […]

Pressure rises for school pupils as school year end nears

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Education

Parents splash out a collective 33 million Euros a year on tuition fees in Austria for their children, but are now being advised to spend more time talking to them instead. Recent figures from the Vienna Chamber of Labour shows that every fourth student in the capital – around 6,000-7,000 – retake their exams every […]

Children uni releases study book

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Education

KinderuniWien will start again from 8 to 20 July and offer a diverse programme. A study book with all lectures will be published on Saturday. “How did Count Dracula become a film star?”; “What is the most poisonous animal in the world?” and “Will robots soon take over the world?” The KinderuniWien offers lectures, where […]

Daily PE lesson: no new gyms planned

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Education

A daily physical education lesson will be introduced to Austrian full-time schools in autumn. However, additional gyms will not be built. City councillor Christian Oxonitsch (SPÖ) said that a renovation would be enough. “We guarantee a minimum of five hours of movement and sport per week for all classes in full-time schools”, said Claudia Schmied […]

Internet bullying on the rise

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Education

Cyber bullying (bullying on the Internet) is becoming more common among children and teenagers. Some comments or photos are humiliating and offensive and have severe consequences. According to surveys, every fifth student between the age of 14 and 19 has been a victim of cyber bullying. However, the estimated number of unknown cases is even […]

Uni offered not enough seminar places

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Education

The Republic of Austria has to pay damages to a former student of the Medical University of Graz as the university offered not enough seminar places. The student’s union is pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision. The Medical University offered only 264 places in seminars in the winter semester 2005/06 of the second stage of […]

Schools in Vienna discuss possible phone ban

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Education

Several schools in Vienna are currently considering whether they can ban mobile phones. Phones often disturb the lessons and students also use their smartphones in the breaks. The school board of the city opposes a complete ban. International studies show that nine out of ten teenagers have a mobile phone and half of them have […]

Central matura exam proving an administrative nightmare

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Education

The Austrian project for a central matura – the equivalent of the A-Level exams – is being piloted in professional colleges this year. The controversial measure is an attempt to provide all pupils taking their final exams with the same paper. They are then marked according to fixed corrections. However, it has proven more difficult […]

Kids Uni project celebrates its 10th birthday

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Education

The “KinderUniSteyr” (Kids University of Steyr) in Upper Austria is one of the most innovative Austrian educational projects. This year, the university for children will celebrate its tenth birthday. The goal of the KinderUniSteyr is to motivate the academics of tomorrow for science. The focus is not on ambitious studying but on curiosity for the […]

Teachers to get hands on training on farms

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Education

Future teachers will get their knowledge directly from farms. Students of teacher training colleges will learn practical things about how modern agriculture works. They will be able to teach their future students. The project “School on Farms” has already been established. Future teachers will now go to farms in order to fill gaps in their […]