Parents are fighting against this

13-year-old to return to elementary school

A 13-year-old from Upper Austria (symbolic image) now wants age-appropriate education after years of homeschooling.(Bild: P. Huber)

A teenager from Upper Austria has not attended school for almost five years. Initially, his parents wanted to homeschool him. But now the boy is supposed to return to school. However, the education authority is now blocking the necessary placement test, even though the Federal Administrative Court has ruled in favor of it.

It's school time, but 13-year-old T. is not sitting in school, but at home with his mother. "Our son is not allowed to attend a school appropriate for his age," his mother complains. Her application to allow the teenager to attend classes at a middle school was rejected by the Upper Austrian Education Authority.

Completed 2nd grade
T. had not been in school for four and a half years. He had last successfully completed the second stage of elementary school in Schwanenstadt in 2020/21. In the following years, his parents requested that their son be taught at home. At the time, the Education Authority granted this request.

Since the boy did not take the mandatory external examination at the end of the 2021/22 school year, the Education Authority prohibited his home schooling in a decision dated July 18, 2022. It was ordered that T. must fulfill his compulsory schooling in a public school or private school with public status. Because he did not attend school in 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25, the Education Authority reported the ongoing violations of compulsory schooling to the responsible district administration.

A 13-year-old Upper Austrian (symbolic image) now wants age-appropriate education after years of homeschooling.(Bild: P. Huber)

The Upper Austrian Education Authority wants to send a 13-year-old to the 3rd grade of elementary school. The court has already ruled twice that this is illegal.

Marcus Hohenecker, Anwalt der Eltern

Legal action all the way to the Administrative Court
On May 20, 2025, T.'s parents applied for admission to Altmünster Middle School, but the administration rejected the application, stating that the legal admission requirements had not been met. The parents objected to the school administration's decision (legal counterargument).

The education authority rejected this as unfounded: successful completion of the fourth grade is mandatory for admission to the first grade of a middle school. However, as T. had only successfully completed the second grade, the legal admission requirements were not met.

Parents ignored the decision
The parents had deliberately ignored the provisions of the legally binding decision and the requirements of the Compulsory Education Act and consciously accepted the resulting charges. The principle of equality prohibits treating persons who violate applicable law more favorably than those who comply with the law. This is because there are pupils who are not allowed to transfer to secondary school due to several "unsatisfactory" grades on their report cards.

Administrative court ruled in favor of parents twice
The parents lodged an appeal against this decision, demanding that T. be allowed to take a placement test. They appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, which ruled in their favor: the boy was to be allowed to take a placement test, as the Education Authority had violated his fundamental right to education. The parents submitted a new application, but were again rejected by the Education Authority.

On February 10, the Federal Administrative Court ruled in their favor again. The Education Authority is now countering with an extraordinary appeal. "We want the Administrative Court to make a landmark decision on this," the Education Authority said in response to a request from "Krone."

Kommentar der „Krone“

Wenn Kinder zum Spielball werden

The T. case is not an isolated one. Unfortunately, there are dozens of similar cases throughout Austria. Especially during the Corona years, quite a few parents took their children out of public schools so they could supervise them themselves in the apparent safety of their own homes.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

In most cases, the intentions were certainly well-meaning; the parents wanted the best for their children. Most of these students have long since returned to regular classes. But those kids whose parents delayed too long are now in danger of falling behind. Poor children!