Start of the summer school

5800 Styrian schoolchildren strive during the vacations

Lessons started yesterday in Hausmannstätten: many pupils and teachers returned to class voluntarily. The transition into the new year should be a "gentle" one.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Summer school is celebrating its fifth anniversary in Styria: the classroom doors opened again on Monday for almost 6,000 children and young people. In small groups, they voluntarily repeat the material from the previous year. The "Krone" was present at the kick-off in the Hausmannstätten school cluster.

"It's better to learn here at summer school than to prepare for the new year at home. The support from our teachers is great!" Even though Sophie has been back at school at Hausmannstätten secondary school since yesterday - voluntarily, mind you - she sees the benefits of the lessons introduced in 2020.

Her colleagues Lukas and Elias, who are in the third year of secondary school, are part of the morning "buffalo party", with teacher Anika Tscherne at their side: "We repeat the material from the previous school year by working through individual topic packages, and memory exercises are also on the agenda. We start the day with a relaxed fifteen minutes of sport."

Teacher Anika Tscherne with pupil Lukas(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Like her protégés, Tscherne gladly agreed to end the summer break two weeks before the official start of school. Teachers and students, who can gain practical hours for their studies, teach in two primary school and seven secondary school groups in Hausmannstätten. "Our primary school pupils repeat the multiplication tables and do reading exercises, which is of course more fun with friends," reports Claudia Genser, head of the elementary school department.

So many pupils take part

5805 children and young people (from all school types) have voluntarily registered for the summer schools in Styria, which are open until September 6, and will be taught by 579 teachers and 259 students.

"On the first day, the children can decide for themselves which subjects they want to learn," adds summer school director Sandra Krpic.

First day of the summer school in Hausmannstätten: Educators Sandra Krpic (left) and Claudia Genser welcome their protégés once again.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Project-oriented lessons in small groups
The highlight of the educational program, which has been anchored in school law since 2021 and is running at 177 locations in Styria this year: The pupils are taught in small groups, the lessons are project-oriented, limited to four hours a day and focus on promoting German, mathematics and subject teaching in elementary school. In higher classes, foreign languages are also included in the revision program.

State Education Councillor Werner Amon is optimistic: "We will certainly be able to maintain all lessons."(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

"Gradual increase in enrolments"
"I am very pleased that the successful summer school model has been so well received. We are seeing a gradual increase in pupil numbers," says a delighted Werner Amon, ÖVP State Councillor for Education.

A look back at the year when the federal government gave the go-ahead: in 2021 there were 3864 summer school pupils at 131 institutions in the Grüne Mark, this year 5805 children and young people have registered.