Illiterate, Non-German-Speaking Students a Huge Strain on Austrian Schools

In response to an unprecedented influx of school-aged asylum seekers, Austrian Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr has announced the introduction of one-semester orientation courses for newly arrived children and teenagers, many of whom have never attended school. Not only do they not speak German, but in many cases, they are also unable to read, write, or perform basic arithmetic. However, according to the FPO, the move is merely a treatment of symptoms.

Illustratio (Source: Pexels)

The move aims to ease their integration into the school system and address challenges posed by their lack of prior formal education, but the opposition Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) insists that the move is merely a treatment of the symptoms and fails to address the root cause of mass immigration, according to the RMX News portal.

According to a report by Austrian Exxpress newspaper, between 2023 and 2024, a total of 22,266 school-age children—mostly from Syria—applied for asylum in Austria, with 18 062 being granted refugee status. This represents the highest number ever recorded. The influx has placed enormous pressure on Austria’s education system, with an average of 174 new pupils—equivalent to eight full classrooms—arriving in the country each week. The primary driver behind this surge has been family reunification,

but many of the arriving children have never attended school, having spent years in refugee camps in Turkey or Lebanon.

Teachers and school administrators, particularly in urban areas, are struggling to cope with the strain. In Vienna alone, the 2022/23 academic year saw 4,000 new primary school pupils enter the system, necessitating the creation of additional classes and leaving educators on the brink of burnout. Last week, Austria’s new governing coalition announced that it plans to introduce a temporary “zero quota” on family reunifications, arguing that this measure is necessary to manage the current refugee crisis and alleviate the burden on the country’s social services.

To ease the growing strain on schools, Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr has introduced orientation classes designed to prepare migrant children for the Austrian school environment.

Many of these new students not only lack proficiency in German, but they also have no foundational literacy or numeracy skills. Some have never held a pen, followed structured school rules, or demonstrated respect towards female teachers due to cultural differences.

Under the new system, children will first attend a six-month orientation course where they will acquire basic German language skills, essential classroom behaviours—such as writing, using scissors, and following etiquette—as well as fundamental social values, including respect, equality, and tolerance.

Following this preparatory phase, students will either transition into mainstream classes or be placed in German-language support classes, depending on their progress. “This is a way to introduce young people with no prior schooling experience to the concept of learning,” Mr. Wiederkehr explained. “For most of them, the next step will be the German-language preparatory class. But even there, teaching German is difficult if the pupils have never sat in a classroom before. The orientation class is designed to prepare them for this step while also relieving pressure on both mainstream and German-language support classes,” the minister pointed out.

The decision on whether a child will participate in an orientation class will be made following an initial assessment interview to evaluate their prior education and literacy level. While the education ministry has yet to determine how many orientation classes will be required for the next academic year, it is actively working on curriculum development. School psychologists and integration services will also be involved in the initiative.

While the government views orientation classes as a necessary step in addressing the current education crisis, opposition parties, particularly the FPO, have strongly criticised the measure. Michael Schnedlitz, FPO’s general secretary, dismissed the initiative as mere “symptom treatment” that fails to address the underlying issue of mass immigration overwhelming Austrian schools.

The first step to alleviating the excessive pressure placed on schools by students who lack German language skills and literacy should be to immediately halt illegal mass immigration, as the FPO has long demanded in its ‘Fortress Austria’ programme,

– Mr. Schnedlitz spelled out in his press release on Wednesday.

 

The pressure is huge

Remix News previously highlighted a teachers’ union report – released in October 2023 – that shed light not just on systemic issues such as language barriers, but also extreme cases,

including attacks on teachers and incidents where students' parents demanded that a teacher wear a burqa.

A headteacher of a secondary school, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, was quoted in the report as saying, “There are always difficulties, especially with Syrian families,” adding that most of them speak no German at all. At his school, 80-85% of the more than 800 students do not speak German as their first language.

We've always had immigration, but this is something entirely different. The Arab communities pose a real challenge,

– the headteacher remarked.

During Ramadan, both teachers and students face additional difficulties. As reported by V4NA, Austrian schools are increasingly struggling with the fact that many students refrain from eating and drinking during the fasting month. While Muslim children are not actually required to fast, there have been growing cases of students experiencing “severely low blood sugar levels and fatigue,” according to Thomas Krebs, the member of a Vienna’s teachers’ union.

Cover photo: Illustration (Source: Pexels)