Schulverwaltung und Schulaufsicht#

School Administration and Supervision are subject to the Ministry for Education, the Provincial School Boards, which are subordinate to the ministry, and the District School Boards, which are subordinate to the Provincial School Boards. The Act of May 25, 1868 ("additional regulations on the relationship between schools and the church", Reichsgesetzblatt RGBl. 48/1868) ended school supervision by the church and replaced it by supervision by the state; only the supervision of religious education and exercises remained with the churches and religious communities. Every crownland set up a provincial school board, every school district a district school board and every municipality with a school, a local school board to supervise elementary schools and teacher training institutions. School supervision acts relevant to the individual crownlands were passed in subsequent years.

Today the competent authorities of the first instance are: 1) the District School Board for elementary (primary) schools, Hauptschule secondary schools, schools for mentally challenged children and polytechnic schools; 2) the Provincial School Board for vocational schools, most secondary schools (except Zentrallehranstalten), the Academy for Social Workers and the Pedagogical Institutions; 3) the Minister for Education for the Zentrallehranstalten, teacher training colleges and federal training colleges for social workers and caretakers. Competent authorities of the second instance are: 1) the Provincial School Board for all primary schools and Hauptschule secondary schools providing general education; 2) the Minister for Education for vocational schools, most secondary schools (except Zentrallehranstalten), for Academies for Social Workers and Pedagogical Institutions. The competent authority in the final instance for all schools is the Minister for Education. In Vienna the Provincial School Board, which is referred to as the Municipal School Board for Vienna, also has the competence of a District School Board.

School supervision (in Austrian legal terminology: Schulinspektion, i.e. School inspection) is carried out by provincial, district and vocational school inspectors as well as by technical inspectors.

Literature#