Teach for Austria

Teach For Austria is a non-profit and charitable organization that provides education to children in need and at risk of poverty, giving them the tools they need for a self-determined and fulfilling life. TFA’s goal is equal opportunity through education.

This is achieved by recruiting especially committed and carefully selected young people—university graduates and young professionals—who teach at schools with a very high proportion of socially and educationally disadvantaged students. TFA attracts these young individuals, provides their training, and offers coaching support during their deployment of at least two years as fully qualified teachers.

The fellows take responsibility to ensure that their students are prepared by the end of compulsory schooling for further education paths—vocational training or school. As of March 2017, 77 TFA teachers (“fellows”) were working at 39 new middle schools and polytechnic schools in Vienna and the greater Vienna area, with over 80 percent of their students having a migration background.

Since 2015, an increasing number of refugees have attended the schools and classes of the fellows. These students are classified as extraordinary pupils and require special support until they can be classified as regular pupils—and thus also graded.

On behalf of People Share, TFA acts as their agent in supporting young refugees classified as “extraordinary students” in their classes. In the 2017/18 school year, this will be around 600 refugee students. People Share, in cooperation with the Berndorf Private Foundation, will cover the costs of training and supporting the fellows for that school year, proportional to the share of extraordinary students in the fellows’ total student population. In the 2018/19 school year, this number is expected to be 696 refugee students. For more details, see www.teachforaustria.at.