Educational institution recognised by the State of Austria providing five-year intensive vocational education in subjects of general knowledge and of the specific area of study. Mediation of thought processes and of attitudes towards work and decision making, enabling the students to pursue a highly qualified career or carry on a business in trade and industry, as well as to be admitted to university. Additional imporiant objeciives are: personal development, the ability to be professionally mobile and flexible, creativity, analytical capability, social commitment, communicative competence, especially concerning the professional area, in the mother tongue as well as in the foreign language.