The supervision on institutions of non home-based education of children and young people is the responsibility of the Office of Social Services. Management and administration of these institutions are regulated in the relevant ordinances and guidelines.

Management and administration of the respective institutions in the fields of pre-school and school education are the responsibility of the school administration and of the school management. Relevant bodies of the school administration are the Government, the Office of Education and the municipality (for Kindergarten and primary schools).

Requirements for appointments as a school head

Management staff and care staff for institutions of childcare

For every institution a manager in charge has to be appointed. Besides details on the professional career the potential manager has to display an up-to-date extract of the judicial record to the Office of Social Services, together with a certificate of health (produced by the GP). The Office of Social Services may ask for a health certificate from the medical officer. Before the appointment of other pedagogically educated persons the internal supervisory body examines their professional suitability and their extract of the judicial record, as well as their health certificate. The manager of the institution is educated as an expert in childcare, special discipline children (formerly qualified teachers for small children), or has a comparable pedagogical degree, and has a minimum of five years of experience. Comparable types of education may be e.g. the education as a social worker HFS, as a Kindergarten or primary teacher, or as a special educational needs teacher.

The care staff is also educated as experts in childcare, special discipline children or has a comparable pedagogical degree. In addition the staff consits of interns who are trained to become experts in childcare or of non pedagogical staff who do not act as educators but fulfill other work.

Management staff at state schools (including Kindergarten)

The appointment of school heads at Kindergarten, primary schools, at secondary schools, at vocational upper secondary schools and at the Gymnasium is the Government's responsibility. There is a joint school administration for Kindergarten and primary schools. School heads for municipal schools (Kindergarten/ primary schools) are recruited in cooperation with the municipal school council.

School heads must have a teaching diploma of the relevant school type as well as a supplementary education in school administration (mostly a CAS degree from a higher education institution). In addition they have to show a minimum of three years of professional experience (final guidelines on the appointment of school heads). If necessary the schools may be granted additional positions for deputy school heads. The appointment is the responsibility of the Office of Education in close coordination with the respective school head.

Conditions of service

Management staff for institutions of childcare

The management staff for institutions of childcare is appointed under private law by the relevant institutions or rather by the respective responsible bodies.

Management staff at state schools

School heads and their deputies are appointed by the Government on the basis of a service contract. Conditions of service start at the moment of entering the profession until retirement and are regulated in the law and the ordinance on the Service Conditions of Civil Servants (2008). The job description is detailed in the School Organisation Ordinance (2004). (Verlinken mit entsprechendem Absatz in Kapitel 2) The degree of employment in management functions depends on the school size and on the school levels. The respective staff appointment scheme is approved by the Government (in coordination with the municipalities).

School heads usually also have teaching duties alongside their management role. The degree of employment for school heads is minimally 50%, for teaching functions it is minimally 10%, and for both functions it is minimally 70%. Schools with a school head that has a degree of employment of 70% may designate deputy school heads with staff management responsibilities with the following degrees of employment: for the function as a deputy head minimally 20%, for the function as a deputy head with additional teaching workload minimally 70%. The degree of employment as a deputy head without staff management functions, but with teaching assignments is minimally 50%. The employment characteristics of the school heads are regulated in the law on the Service Conditions of Civil Servants (2008). The salary of the school management conforms to the Law (1990) and the Ordinance (2004) on the Salaries of Civil Servants. The salary range varies between 12 and 15 according to school levels and school size (appendix 3;  Ordinance (2004) on the Salaries of Civil Servants).

The payment of the deputies is regarded as a functional allowance according to Art 6, par. 1, letter b, (Law on the Salaries of Civil Servants: functional allowance for regular and required attendance and on-call duty beyond working hours). This regulation may be a basis for the argument that deputy heads are regularly required to do extra work beyond their teaching working time. Functional allowances also vary according to the type of school and the school size. In addition there are two types of functional allowances – one with staff management functions and one without these.

Legislative References:

• Law of 24^th April 2008 on the Service Conditions of Civil Servants
• Ordinance of 2^nd December 2008 on the Service Conditions of Civil Servants
• Law of 22^nd November 1990 on Salaries of Civil Servants
• Ordinance of 7th September 2004 on Salaries of Civil Servants
• Law of 26^th November 2003 on Teachers’ Service Conditions
• Ordinance of 6^th April 2004 on the Teachers’ Service Conditions Law
• Guideline of the Office of Social Services concerning supervision on institutions of non home-based education of children