The situation in Austria
In Austria, the implementation of school-autonomous curricular regulations falls under the purview of the school forum or the school community committee. This process involves several key steps:
- The school forum or school community committee is responsible for enacting school-autonomous curricular regulations.
- The school-autonomous curricular regulations must be publicly announced by posting them for a period of one month.
- After the one-month period, the regulations must be deposited with the school management.
- Pupils, guardians, and (in vocational schools) teachers are granted the right to inspect the school-autonomous curricular regulations upon request.
- School-autonomous curricular provisions are communicated to the competent school authority.
- The competent school authority has the power to revoke school-autonomous curricular provisions if they do not comply with the authorisation, or if the interests of pupils and guardians, beyond those of the individual school, have not been adequately considered.
- School-autonomous curriculum provisions that necessitate additional personnel or equipment resources compared to the prescribed curriculum require the approval of the competent school authority.
This process ensures that school-autonomous curricular regulations undergo a transparent and accountable procedure, involving the school community, and are subject to scrutiny by the competent school authority to safeguard broader educational interests.