Number of Suspensions at Austria's Schools Rises Significantly – 2,187 Temporary Exclusions in the 2024/25 School Year

The increase is particularly pronounced in Styria, where the number of suspensions has more than doubled from 95 to over 200. Upper Austria already counts around 500 cases, and the education directorate expects the 600 mark to be reached by the end of the school year. In absolute numbers, Upper Austria thus far outpaces the other federal states.

The trend is also rising in Vienna. The education directorate attributed the increase in recent years both to the growing number of students and to the fact that there is a "stärkere Sensibilisierung im Umgang mit Konflikten und Gewalt." Current comparative figures from Vienna: 756 suspensions in the current school year, following 814 in the 2022/23 school year.

When Is a Suspension Permitted?

The legal basis for a suspension is clearly regulated: children and young people are excluded when "Gefahr in Verzug" (danger in delay) exists. Parliament specified this in an amendment at the end of last year. According to this, danger in delay exists when students "einen vorsätzlichen tätlichen Angriff" commit, make a threat that puts others "in Furcht und Unruhe," persistently pursue or degrade others, or damage property.

Compulsory school teachers' union representative Thomas Krebs describes the situation from practice: "Bei Suspendierungen geht es um Gefahr in Verzug, und das zeigt schon, wie prekär die Situation ist." Physical attacks also frequently occur. A teacher additionally reports that "Gegenstände, die in der Schule täglich verwendet werden sollten, wie zum Beispiel eine Schere, die zur Waffe werden und entsprechend missbraucht werden. Das kommt leider sehr oft vor."

Planned Day-Structuring Program as a Response

Education Minister Wiederkehr had repeatedly criticized that suspended students often "abhängen" in shopping centers or parks instead of being supervised. The planned new day-structuring program is intended to prevent this. It is to last up to 20 hours and consist half of reintegration measures and half of instruction.

The debate about the causes is meanwhile not yet concluded. Observers point both to the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to a growing coarsening of behavior among children and young people. Data from Lower Austria, Vorarlberg, and Carinthia also confirm the trend, albeit at different levels.

Background and Causes

Regardless of the causes, the pressure on policymakers to deliver tangible concepts is growing. The education directorates emphasize that a suspension is always the last resort. However, the rising case numbers indicate that preventive measures alone are evidently not sufficient to defuse the situation in classrooms.