Education policies concerning early school leaving in Austria

Abstract

This paper deals with the key issues of early school leaving and youth unemployment in Europe and takes a look at the causes and consequences of these problems. A summary of relevant early school leaving statistics and research studies which describe the situation in Austria is presented. Measures and initiatives to reduce early school leaving that have been implemented in Austria
since the Lisbon 2000 Strategy are discussed along with the questions of whether, and if so which, EU policy documents have influenced Austrian measures to tackle early school leaving. The conclusion critically sums up the following relevant results: although many of the policies recommended by the EU have been implemented in Austria, many preventive measures are also still outstanding. These include, for example, the continued lack of (tertiary level) training for kindergarten teachers and the failure to introduce comprehensive schools. The call for the latter was not met by Austria‘s introduction of so-called new middle schools, a workaround which has not led to a reduction in social inequalities in educational pathways. The supra-company apprenticeship training concept is a positive development, since it reaches some of the country’s early school leavers.