!!!Berufsschulen

Berufsschulen (type of vocational school); developed out of Sunday 
schools and evening classes, e.g. "Wiederholungsschule" (revision 
classes), "Handwerker-Sonntagsschule" (Sunday schools for manual 
workers), "Abend- und Sonntags-Zeichenkurse" (Sunday and evening 
drawing classes) etc. The "Gewerbeschule" (trade school) at Gumpendorf 
(Vienna, 1858) was the first relevant initiative in this field. In 
Lower Austria, these part-time "gewerbliche Fortbildungsschulen" 
(Industrial Schools of Further Education) offering 2- to 3-year 
courses, were established by statute as early as 1868. In 1907, 
classes were restricted to working days. The 1897 amendment to the 
Trade Regulation Act made it compulsory for apprentices to attend 
these Colleges. As well as colleges offering general or specific 
vocational courses  commercial schools and  Schools of Agriculture and 
Forestry were established. Between 1918 and 1938, further education 
was extended to partly include people with no previous training, for 
example in schools of home economics, which were first established in 
Vorarlberg in 1929. Furthermore, the system increasingly stressed 
specialisation by training students for a specific trade rather than 
aiming at general education. After 1945, courses lasting some weeks 
were organised in boarding schools outside the larger cities ("Waldegg 
method"). In 1938, it was ruled that the Fortbildungsschulen were to 
be called Berufsschulen. This name was again adopted in 1947 and the 
Law relating to school organization structured the system on a uniform 
basis in 1962  berufsbildende Schulen. The Berufsschulen aim at giving 
apprentices a sound level of training in their respective branches 
focusing on basic theoretical knowledge and thus completing the 
practical training the apprentices receive at their workplaces. The 
schools also aim at broadening the apprentices' general education 
("dual system"). Since 1984, students have been streamed in two groups 
for the theoretical and business management courses. Students do not 
attend classes on more than one and a half days of the week. Some 
colleges organise courses lasting up to eight weeks per school year or 
only hold classes in a certain season. In 1986, preparatory classes 
lasting from 1 to 2 semesters were introduced. Through such courses, 
apprentices gain access to the higher education system.

!Literature
J. Schermaier, Die oesterreichischen Berufsschulen der 
Gegenwart, 1981.


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