Around 2,100 pupils in the state of Salzburg attended the summer school this year in order to catch up on learning delays from the school year. From the end of August they studied for 14 days in the classrooms and were mostly supervised by student teachers.

This would hardly have received any money for this activity, criticizes Maximilian Wagner from the student body at the Pädagogische Hochschule Salzburg: “Student teachers get a material cost reimbursement of 50 euros for two weeks of work, but they are solely responsible in the class and organize the lessons. We have always said clearly that this is work. These are people who are already working as educators and who are individually responsible for the project, ”says Wagner.

“Free lessons are unacceptable in the long run”

At the moment, the lessons in the summer school are counted as practical courses. The students are also credited with points for their degree. But in view of the expected expansion of the summer school, that’s not enough, says the student union representative.

“We now have to put the project on a solid footing. Taking other subjects and grades and saying the students do it during their studies and thus free of charge, that doesn’t work in the long run, ”says Wagner. According to the university, the contact person for student representatives is the Ministry of Education.