Nine motions

Pupils’ parliament: what Carinthia’s young people want

What do Carinthian pupils actually want? The pupils' parliament discussed this.(Bild: zVg)

Every six months, the Carinthian school parliament takes place, where elected representatives want to make their concerns heard with regard to education policy. What concerns Carinthia's young people, what do they want to improve? The "Krone" took a closer look at the motions adopted.

The procedure is similar to that of state parliament meetings: There is an agenda, motions may be submitted, requests to speak may be made and discussions may be held. Nine out of ten of the motions received a majority of votes and will therefore be forwarded to the Carinthian state parliament for processing. 

What is the students' problem? Michael Fugger from HAK Feldkirchen, for example, is calling for a new subject in which pupils are taught financial education. "Tax returns, rental agreements, investments - that's exactly what should be included in a future-oriented curriculum," he explains.

HTL student Jan Rauch also renews a long-awaited measure: an expansion of political education in history and social studies/political education! The problem of (cyber)-bullying has also been a topic of discussion for years - Kevin Kreuzwirt from BORG Althofen is calling for the introduction of an anti-bullying program at Carinthian schools.

The Carinthian state parliament is legally obliged to deal with the motions of the student parliament.(Bild: zVg)

It remains to be seen how many of the motions proposed by the student parliament will actually be implemented.(Bild: zVg)

(Bild: zVg)

Fake news, propaganda and artificial intelligence
Alexander Wollgarten from BG/BRG Porcia Spittal an der Drau took up the topic of media literacy: "The world is changing. Artificial intelligence is advancing like never before, political positions are becoming more radicalized," explained the Spittal native, who warned of the danger of false information on the internet. Workshops and lectures on media literacy should therefore be integrated into lessons at all school levels to make it easier to expose fake news and propaganda online.

Unsurprisingly, young people are also concerned about climate change. Michael Griesser, school spokesperson at HTL Lastenstraße in Klagenfurt, is therefore also calling for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be included in the curriculum across all subjects.

More individuality through the modular system
For Soraya Kuglitsch from Hermagor, the modular upper school - students choose their courses according to their personal strengths and interests - is a simple solution for more individuality. For this reason, the student parliament also decided to introduce a modular upper school level, anchored in law, from the 9th grade onwards. The student representatives also want more English lessons on offer in future, as "multilingualism is a key skill in a globalized world."

Raphael Dionisio wants to strengthen apprenticeships as a form of further education and is therefore calling for mandatory visits to information events and an expansion of apprenticeships, especially those with the option of an apprenticeship with a school-leaving certificate. Finally, Nina Struger, school spokesperson for Peraugymnasium, requested improvements to the Matura in December.

The Carinthian state parliament is legally obliged to deal with the motions of the student parliament. However, it remains to be seen how much of this will actually be implemented.