Learning account of Upper Austria
- Name of the instrument - Local language
- Bildungskonto Oberösterreich
- Name of the instrument - English translation
- Learning account of Upper Austria
- Scheme ID
- 8
- Country
- Austria
- Reporting year
- 2015
- Type of instrument
- Grant for individuals
- Type of entry
- Example for a group of instruments
- Short description
Beneficiaries of this scheme include all types of learners (employees, persons with parental leave benefit, persons on parental leave, marginally employed, unemployed, self-employed, entrepreneurs with a maximum of 5 employees) as long as they are residents of Upper Austria. However, only adults without higher education entrance exam ("Matura") as highest form of education are eligible. There are exceptions for university graduates with gross income of less than EUR 2 200 per month. The co-funding share is 50% of the costs for training and education.
- 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)
- Upper Austria
- Name of the sector (for sectoral instruments)
- nap
- Relevance
- Key scheme
- Legal basis
Decision of the government of Upper Austria
- Objective(s) and target(s)
To advance employment and improve personal skills of individuals
- Year of implementation
- 1994
- Year of latest amendment
- 2015
- Operation/management
Office of the Upper Austrian government, Department Education and Society, governs, administers and takes responsibility for the whole scheme.
Responsible for monitoring/evaluation: IBE, Landesrechnungshof OÖ (Audit Court Upper Austria).- Eligible group(s)
Residents of Upper Austria only: employees, persons with parental leave benefit, persons on parental leave, women on maternity benefit, registered returners,
marginally employed persons with unemployment or on emergency benefit, freelance workers,
self-employed
entrepreneurs with a maximum of 5 emploes. Only those with maximum higher education entrance exam ("Matura") are elegible, except for university graduates with gross income less than 2.200 per month.- Group(s) with preferential treatment
Persons without any formal degree, persons with parental leave benefit, persons in parental leave, registered returners, women on maternity benefit
- Education and training eligible
Professionally oriented further training and re-training
- Source of financing and collection mechanism
Upper Austria budget
matching: individual- Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
Co-funding: 50 % of the costs for education and training up to a maximum amount of EUR 2 000 (preferential treatment: 70% up to EUR 2 400) in period 1 January 2015 - 31 December 2018.
If limit of reimbursement is reached, the next account can be claimed in 2019.
Individuals may be granted more than 1 ILA per year, as long as the limit of reimbursement is not reached.Allocation: money is transferred to a learner's individual bank account.
- Eligible costs
Fees only
- Frequency of the use
Specific rules/conditions for reuse
- Volumes of funding
In 2014, the budget of this scheme was EUR 9 500 000.
- Beneficiaries/take up
In 2014, the training activities for 17 831 individuals were funded by the scheme. 9 807 (55%) of them were women. An age breakdown shows that 886 beneficiaries were 20 years or younger, 4 096 between 21 and 25, 3 241 between 26 and 30, 2 527 between 31 and 35, 1 953 between 36 and 40, 1 842 between 41 and 45, 1 645 between 46 and 50, 1 112 between 51 and 55, 411 between 56 and 60; 68 had no age specification.
- Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
Office of the Upper Austrian Government, Department Education and Society.
- Monitoring/evaluation reports available
Oberösterreichischer Landesrechnungshof (2009) Bildungskonto des Landes Oö. Initi-ativprüfung (Bericht). Linz (online https://www.lrh-ooe.at/_files/downloads/berichte/2009/IP_Bildungskonto_… letzter Zugriff: 9 Juli 2012).
Oberösterreichischer Landesrechnungshof (2010): Folgeprüfung - Bildungskonto des Landes Oö. Linz (https://www.lrh-ooe.at/_files/downloads/berichte/2010/FP_Bildungskonto_…, letzter Zugriff: 9. Juli 2012).- Most relevant webpage - in English
www.cedefop.europa.eu%2Ffiles%2F5192_en.pdf&ei=6XXTVKCqM8XLaNyXgZgG&usg…
- Most relevant webpage - local language
http://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/cps/rde/xchg/ooe/hs.xsl/24636_DEU…
- Sources
http://www.eduresearch.at/fileadmin/DAM/Innovation/Bildungsforschung/Bi…
Amt der Oö. Landesregierung (2011). Ausbildungen für Berufstätige in Oberösterreich. Linz.
Land Oberösterreich (2011) Lebensbegleitendes Lernen – LLL - Strategie Oberösterreich: Impulse & Ziele für Erwachsenenbildung. Linz (Online: http://www.bmwfj.gv.at/Berufsausbildung/LehrlingsUndBerufsausbildung/Do…)
Oberösterreichischer Landesrechnungshof (2009) Bildungskonto des Landes Oö. Initiativprüfung (Bericht). Linz (online https://www.lrh-ooe.at/_files/downloads/berichte/2009/IP_Bildungskonto_…)
- Short description
- Short description of the related instruments
- Level of operation
- Name of a part of the country
- Name of the region (for regional instruments)
- Name of the sector (for sectoral instruments)
- Relevance
- Legal basis
- Objective(s) and target(s)
- Year of implementation
- Year of latest amendment
- Operation/management
- Eligible group(s)
- Group(s) with preferential treatment
- Education and training eligible
- Source of financing and collection mechanism
- Financing formula and allocation mechanisms
- Eligible costs
- Frequency of the use
- Volumes of funding
- Beneficiaries/take up
- Organisation responsible for monitoring/evaluation
- Monitoring/evaluation reports available
- Most relevant webpage - in English
- Most relevant webpage - local language
- Sources