Wiederkehr insists on heat protection and nationwide standards in schools

The minister described the recent heatwave as "außergewöhnlich" and stressed that society would have to adjust to such conditions in the future. "Diese Hitzewelle ist außergewöhnlich, wir werden uns aber leider künftig daran gewöhnen müssen", he said. According to Wiederkehr, the heatwave lasted longer in eastern Austria than in the west. Teachers had reported classroom temperatures above 30 degrees.

Heatwave and immediate measures

For acute measures, 50 federal schools have been prioritized, distributed across Austria and particularly heat-stressed. The federal government invests 500 million euros annually in school infrastructure such as ventilation and shading. Wiederkehr also pointed to more than 6,000 schools and an "unglaubliche Anzahl an Klassenzimmern" in Austria, illustrating the scale of the adjustments needed.

Parallel to the heat debate, Wiederkehr reaffirmed his "Plan Z": children with insufficient German skills are to receive additional points, an additional kindergarten year should be made possible where pedagogically sensible, and first-year primary school classes should be staffed with two teachers. "Trotz aller Maßnahmen sprechen 49.000 Kinder und Jugendliche nicht ausreichend Deutsch, um dem Unterricht zu folgen", he said.

The number of "außerordentlichen Schülerinnen und Schüler" is declining slightly but remains at too high a level at almost 50,000. In the future, summer school is also to become mandatory for around 16,000 students attending a German support course. Overall, more than 54,000 children and young people have registered for the program this year.

Plan Z against language deficits

Wiederkehr also announced a Federal Quality Framework Act that would, for the first time, introduce uniform quality standards in early childhood education. "Erstmals wird es mit einem Bundesqualitätsrahmengesetz einheitliche Qualitätsstandards in der Elementarpädagogik geben, das ist ein historischer Schritt für mehr Qualität im Kindergarten", he said. The next step would be a quality offensive with a second mandatory kindergarten year.

Kindergarten offensive and quality standards

The reform partnership has already agreed on minimum standards in early childhood education, uniform personnel management, more attractive school clusters, and a standardized digital school administration. A nationwide solution is more important to him than different rules per federal state: "Es müssen hier alle Bundesländer mitziehen."

On the teacher shortage, Wiederkehr was cautiously optimistic: the number of applications exceeds the open positions, but regional and subject-specific bottlenecks remain. "Wir haben mehr Bewerbungen als letztes Jahr und mehr als offene Stellen. Der Lehrermangel ist aber noch nicht überwunden", he said. For primary school teaching, there are more registrations than ever; he called the sports teacher training a "Jobgarantie für die Zukunft".

Wiederkehr also confirmed that there is a problem with violence in Austria's schools: "Wir haben in den Schulen ein Problem mit Gewalt". He also rejected the idea of moving summer holidays forward by two weeks — floated by Vienna's City Councillor for Education Bettina Emmerling (NEOS) and Carinthian Governor Daniel Fellner (SPÖ). Shortening the gap between summer and autumn holidays would worsen learning outcomes.

Last week, the Education Ministry had issued tips such as additional drinking breaks, fans, or outdoor classes. For structural heat protection, parent representatives, the Schülerunion, unions, and the opposition called for improvements. Former federal teachers' representative Heinrich Himmer (SPÖ) demanded a "Hitzeschutz-Plan" for next summer as well as "klimafittere" schools, but considered an earlier start to the holidays "überlegenswert".

Debate over earlier summer holidays

FPÖ education spokesperson Hermann Brückl called the holidays debate a "Scheindebatte" on Tuesday and instead demanded heat-fit schools and more autonomy for principals. ÖVP education spokesperson Nico Marchetti was generally open to discussions but warned against short-notice shifts due to childcare concerns. Paul Kimberger (FCG) cautioned: "Was tun wir aber, wenn dann Ende August, Anfang September die nächste Hitzewelle ansteht?"

Evelyn Kometter of the Pflichtschul-Elternverband demanded better equipment on Ö1's "Mittagsjournal" so that good teaching remains possible even in extreme heat. Municipalities as school maintainers face a dilemma because budgets are insufficient. Hannah Scheidl of the ÖVP-affiliated Schülerunion was also open to talks but at the same time insisted on structural measures such as air conditioning.