# Austria's education ministry publishes AI strategy for schools

> Austria wants pupils to learn without AI first, then about AI and only then with it. The strategy sets no new rules or bans. Teachers keep the final say on how AI is used in lessons.

The Yoink Report (CodeYoink) | Europe | AI in learning | News of 6 November 2026 | Published 11 November 2026

Christoph Wiederkehr, Austria's education minister, presented a national AI strategy for schools on 6 November 2026.

All the sources for this story are in German. The translations are our own. The ministry calls the strategy a framework for orientation. [The Austria Press Agency reported](https://www.vienna.at/wiederkehr-praesentierte-ki-strategie-fuer-schulen/10652504) that it sets no legal rules or bans and no list of required steps. The agency said decisions on how AI is used in lessons stay with teachers.

Wiederkehr said pupils should first learn without AI. Next they should learn about AI and how it works. Only then should they learn with it. [The ministry's summary](https://www.bmb.gv.at/Themen/schule/zrp/ki.html) says basic skills are built and shown without AI.

According to the summary, teachers may use AI to plan lessons, adapt tasks and give feedback. Its output counts only as a draft. The summary cites research that nine in 10 pupils in Austria use AI chatbots. Almost three in four of them use them for school work.

The ministry lists support that will follow. Teachers can already use a FAQ and guidance. An advice service on AI for schools and a set of checked AI tools for teachers are due from the summer semester of 2027. An AI sandbox, a virtual space for learning about AI by experimenting with it, will be tested from early 2027.

Reactions were mixed, the press agency reported. Heinrich Himmer, education spokesman for the Social Democrats, called it a right step but wants binding rules. The Austrian Economic Chamber said it lacks timelines, funding and targets that can be checked.

For teachers and parents in Austria, the strategy changes no rules now. In September, Wiederkehr told the press agency that AI means the rules on grading should change, so that schools can assess pupils more flexibly. He said the governing coalition must discuss this first. The report gave no date. [The strategy document](https://www.bmb.gv.at/dam/jcr:7c6d616d-41c1-4a33-9c5f-991fd531c39b/ki_strategie_schulen_pub.pdf) will be updated in regular cycles.

## Sources

- Bundesministerium für Bildung: [Künstliche Intelligenz in Österreichs Schulen (in German)](https://www.bmb.gv.at/Themen/schule/zrp/ki.html)
- Bundesministerium für Bildung: [KI-Strategie für Österreichs Schulen, version 1.0.0 (PDF, in German)](https://www.bmb.gv.at/dam/jcr:7c6d616d-41c1-4a33-9c5f-991fd531c39b/ki_strategie_schulen_pub.pdf)
- Vienna.at (APA): [Wiederkehr präsentierte KI-Strategie für Schulen (in German)](https://www.vienna.at/wiederkehr-praesentierte-ki-strategie-fuer-schulen/10652504)
- News.at (APA): [Wiederkehr will wegen KI Leistungsbeurteilung an Schulen anpassen (in German)](https://www.news.at/technik/wiederkehr-will-wegen-ki-leistungsbeurteilung-an-schulen-anpassen)

Picture: Gugerell, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wien_01_Minoritenplatz_05_a.jpg

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