Education Minister Wiederkehr pledges to raise fully qualified teacher hires to 80 by 2027

Education Minister Wiederkehr pledges to raise the share of fully qualified teachers in new hires to at least 80 % by 2027, reversing a recent trend in which barely half of newly created posts were filled by graduates of teacher-training programmes or certified lateral entrants.

On Sunday, 14 June 2026, the minister’s office confirmed that only 54 % of the most recent teaching positions had gone to candidates holding a state teaching licence or an officially recognised lateral-entry certificate, while the remainder were filled through short-term or special contracts. “We cannot continue to staff our schools with stop-gap solutions,” a spokesperson told *Die Presse* . Wiederkehr’s plan calls for a phased reduction of such contracts and a corresponding increase in the proportion of permanent, fully qualified educators.

The announcement follows a series of internal ministry reviews conducted throughout the spring of 2026, which found that schools in urban districts—particularly Vienna, Graz and Linz—had resorted to emergency hiring in subjects such as mathematics, physics and modern languages because of chronic shortages of certified applicants. “The data show that the quality of instruction suffers when teachers lack the full pedagogical preparation,” the ministry’s education-policy director said in an interview with *Der Standard* .

The pledge comes at a moment when Austria’s teacher-training pipeline is already under strain. Teacher-education faculties report a 12 % decline in first-year enrolments compared with 2022, while the average age of the existing workforce has risen to 48.5 years. Wiederkehr’s office has therefore earmarked an additional €45 million in the 2027 budget to expand places on fast-track lateral-entry programmes and to offer signing bonuses of up to €10,000 for graduates who commit to teaching in high-need subjects and regions.

The move aligns with broader European trends. In New South Wales, Australia, education authorities have similarly struggled to fill language-teacher vacancies, with enrolments in foreign-language courses falling by 18 % over the past two academic years. New South Wales officials have responded by offering instant teaching offers and retention bonuses of AUD 20,000, measures that Wiederkehr’s team is now studying as part of its own recruitment strategy .

Critics, however, question whether the promised 80 % target can be met without relaxing certification standards. Teachers’ union representatives have warned that accelerated lateral-entry routes risk diluting professional requirements. “We need more teachers, but not at the cost of quality,” said Ingrid Schmid, chair of the Austrian Teachers’ Association. The ministry has pledged to maintain existing accreditation criteria while expanding training capacity, aiming to publish a detailed implementation plan by the end of September 2026.