Education in Austria is responsibility of both the federal government and the state government. Kindergarten education is optional and provided to the children of age 4 to 6 years. All children up to 15 years age must have to attend school. Primary education is provided for four years.
Secondary education is divided into two types -
- Gymnasium- this education leads to the Matura a pre requisite to access university education. The Gymnasium is provided to talented and gifted students.
- Hauptschule- this prepares students for vocational education.
Till recently, Austrian University education was accessible to all students’ who pass the Matura examination. In 2006 a new bill was induced according to which students now have to take entrance examination for admission into university programs like medicine. This move has been taken as PISA student assessments shown weakness in all subjects when compared to other OECD nations. Especially, Hauptschulen students yielded poor results.
The education system in Austria is of dates back to the nineteenth century; with the change of time the education system also require modifications. Since Austrian government has already started taking initiatives in this direction like introduction of entrance examination etc, the Austrian knowledge economy may be flourishing one in coming years.
