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Increasing religious conflicts in schools: education in transition!
Ulrike Greiner emphasizes the important interreligious dialogue in schools: Increasing conflicts and a growing Muslim population require measures.
Increasing religious conflicts in schools: education in transition!
The educational situation at compulsory schools in Austria and Germany is under pressure. While conflicts between different religious groups are increasingly being documented in Vienna, there are worrying trends in Germany regarding the number of students and school qualifications. According to a report by the crown, the proportion of Muslim students in compulsory schools in Vienna has risen sharply. This has resulted in other religious groups having to adapt or be excluded. Ulrike Greiner, Rector of the Church Pedagogical University of Vienna/Lower Austria, emphasizes the need for interreligious dialogue in order to counteract extreme trends that occur in all religions.
Increasing student numbers in Germany
The situation in Germany is also critical. The Ministry of Education reports that school enrollment in summer 2022 with over 813,000 children increased by 6% compared to the previous year, largely due to the immigration of Ukrainian children. In addition, the total number of students in general education schools has increased over the last ten years, indicating a stable, profitable education. During the 2022/23 school year, a total of 8.69 million students took part in the German school system, with the structure of the student numbers showing that the majority are enrolled in secondary schools I and II.
As the Federal Agency for Civic Education explains, there has also been a significant change in school leaving qualifications: the number of school graduates has fallen by 11% in recent years. On average, young men achieve lower levels of graduation than their female peers. The school system shows that the average cost of training per student is 9,500 euros; this amount has steadily increased over the last ten years. Particular challenges are the differentiation between the different types of schools and the integration of students with special needs into the regular school system, which takes into account the need for more inclusion.