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Austria

Country brief

Country name: Austria
Please estimate the number of children in school (age 3-19) in your country:  

1.137.000

Statistics for 2019/20 not yet available. School in Austria starts at the age of 5 or 6. Younger children are not included in the statistics.

Please estimate the number of school drop-outs in your country in the school year 2019/2020: 

Not available.

Please estimate the average number of school drop-outs per year in the 5 school years previous to school year 2019/2020? 

44.000

Rough estimate, drop out rate about 7% after compulsory education (15+years) https://irihs.ihs.ac.at/id/eprint/5039/1/ihs-policybrief-lassnigg-steiner-2109-selektion_dropout_bildungsabbruch.pdf, p. https://www.statistik.at/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_PDF_FILE&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&dDocName=122983

Did National exams or evaluation methods take place in academic year 2019/2020? And if so, for which levels?  

All

If national exams or evaluation methods did not take place, what is the replacement solution? 

–

If schools resumed before the summer of 2020, were any particular year groups or other groups identified to have more contact, if so which? 

According to a study of the Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna amongst 4,000 Austrian teachers, students with a low socio-economic status could hardly be reached during lockdown. On average, according to information from the teachers, twelve percent of all students were difficult or impossible to reach when the school was closed. But when it comes to those children who they classified as disadvantaged before the Corona crisis, for example because of language problems or a socially disadvantaged home, then the quota of those who can hardly be reached is three times as high at 36 percent.

https://www.ihs.ac.at/publications-hub/blog/beitraege/oesterreichs-bildungssystem-im-ausnahmezustand/ https://www.ihs.ac.at/fileadmin/public/2016_Files/Photos/Veranstaltungen/2020/Leben_mit_Corona/Praesentationen/S5_Steiner.pdf

When school resumed in the Autumn of 2020, were any particular year groups or other groups identified to have more contact, if so which?

–

Access to education 

What were the primary modes of learning implemented during the Covid-19 School closures?
  • Online
  • Pick-up/Send paper materials
Were the above measures put into place at a policy (national or regional level) or by schools and teachers?
  • Policy (national or regional) level
Please estimate Number or percentage of children in school (age 3-19) with access to: 
  • high-speed internet – N/A 
  • basic internet – 89%
  • TV – +90% 
  • Radio – +90% 
  • Computer, tablet or smart phone they could use during the day – 85%

Source: Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs https://www.bmdw.gv.at/DigitalisierungundEGovernment/Documents/DigitalDossier.pdf Data refers to households.

What translation/interpretation resources/services are/were made available online for students and families from regional or national level? 

uugot.it – App that provides subtitles to TV programs – special focus on COVID-19 news by Austrian Public Broadcasting Agency ORF and TV program for children; https://www.okay-line.at/aktuell/coronavirus-mehrsprachige-informationen-fuer-schule-und-eltern/

What special or exceptional learning need supports are/were made available online for students and families from regional or national level? 

weiterlernen.at; https://bildungshub.wien/unterrichtsmaterialien/; Psycho-Social support https://www.give.or.at/aktuelles/informations-und-unterstuetzungsangebote-fuer-schuelerinnen-lehrerinnen-und-eltern/