Double Thousand Euro Bill for Further Education
- Name of the instrument - Local language
- (Doppelter) Weiterbildungstausender
- Name of the instrument - English translation
- Double Thousand Euro Bill for Further Education
- Country
- Austria
- Type of instrument
- Grant for individuals
- Type of entry
- Example for a group of instruments
- Short description
Employees with a monthly net income below EUR 1 800 may receive pubic contributions to their costs for education and training. The eligible education and training activities have to be relevant for the current occupation of the learner and have to be provided by an approved training provider. The co-funding share is 50% of the costs for education and training up to a maximum of EUR 200 (for one training).
- Short description of the related instruments
The nine Austrian Regions (Bundesländer) provide further education grants for adults. These grants represent a significant part of the public investment in adult learning for employed on regional level (beyond funding within the active labour market policy). The amounts of funding available and the criteria for eligible groups and educational programs differ widely between Regions. For groups enjoying preferential treatment (for example, low qualified adults) and for particular educational programmes (for example, preparation courses for the final apprenticeship examination), funding up EUR 3 700 and up to 100 per cent of the course fees is available in some Regions. Available support is much more generous in some Regions (for example, Vienna or Upper Austria) than in others. While the Regions’ role in co-funding adult learning has become a stable feature of the institutional landscape since the mid of the 1990ies, individual funding schemes are subject to frequent changes. Various data bases are available informing on the currently available support schemes (www.kursfoerderung.at). There is no regular statistical reporting available; according to the latest available estimate, around 45 000 adults benefit from the support schemes by the Austrian Regions each year, receiving public co-funding of an estimated EUR 40 million.
- Level of operation
- Regional
- Name of a part of the country
- nap
- Name of the region (for regional instruments)
- Vienna
- Name of the sector (for sectoral instruments)
- nap
- Relevance
- Key scheme
- Legal basis
Decision Local Government (Vienna (country budget, country law)); Decision by board of management and trustees of the waff (Vienna Employment Promotion Fund)
- Objective(s) and target(s)
To iprove the qualications of Vienna's population; promoting individual opportunities in the labour market.
- Year of implementation
- 1998
- Year of latest amendment
- 2014
- Operation/Management
The Vienna Bundesländer has an agency WAFF - Vienna Employment Promotion Fund - with its own legal status which is responsible - among many other activities - for providing co-funding for adult learning. The schemes of the WAFF are being changed continuously.
- Eligible group(s)
Employees, marginal workers (if they do not receive benefit under the Unemployment Insurance Act)
- Group(s) with preferential treatment
None
- Education and training eligible
Education and training relevant for applicant's profession, delivered by approved training provider (holding a particular quality certification of Vienna or a comparable certification of another Austrian Bundesländer).
- Source of financing and collection mechanism
Budget of Vienna Bundesländer
matching: individual- Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
Co-funding: 50% of the costs for education and training up to a maximum of EUR 200.
NOT eligible are: costs for travel, accommodation and meals, registration and registration fees, books, scripts, governmental fees, hobby and leisure courses, coaching, supervision, self-experience courses and the like; formal graduation: school final exam, apprenticeship exam, etc.; studies at universities and technical colleges, and similar educational institutions under public law, for which there are already school grants, scholarships or similar support provided by the public sector. Parts of studies and individual semester course fees.
Allocation: Application is made by the invididual at least 3 months after the end of the training. If the grant is awarded, it is transmitted to the individual's bank account.
- Eligible costs
Fees only
- Frequency of the use
Every 2 years
- Volumes of funding
In 2014, EUR 4.43 million.
- Beneficiaries/take up
In 2014, 4 440 individuals received funding, 38% men and 62% women. 48% of beneficaries had migrant background.
- Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
WAFF.
- Monitoring/evaluation reports available
A regular monitoring is implemented; comparable pre-runner schemes had been evaluated (https://www.waff.at/html/de/index.aspx?page_url=Berichte&mid=392#Evalui…)
- Most relevant webpage - in English
http://www.waff.at/html/en/index.aspx?page_url=F%C3%B6rderung_f%C3%BCr_…
- Most relevant webpage - local language
http://www.waff.at/html/index.aspx?page_url=F%C3%B6rderung_f%C3%BCr_Wei…
- Sources
waff (2015) - Geschäftsbericht 2014 (https://www.waff.at/html/de/index.aspx?page_url=Berichte&mid=392)
http://www.waff.at/html/index.aspx?page_url=F%C3%B6rderung_f%C3%BCr_Wei…
Hefler, Günter, Markowitsch, Jörg, & Fleischer, Viktor (2013). Diffusion und Handlungslogiken nachfrageorientierter Kofinanzierung individueller beruflicher Weiterbildung in Österreich. In B. Käpplinger, R. Klein & E. Haberzeth (Eds.), Weiterbildungsgutscheine - Wirkungen eines Finanzierungsmodells in vier europäischen Ländern (pp. 345-376). Bielefeld: WBV.