Alarming figures: almost half of Viennese first graders have problems with German

Alarming figures: almost half of Viennese first graders have problems with German

An alarming statistic is causing an uproar in Vienna. Almost half of the city's first graders have difficulty speaking enough German to follow lessons. A request from the “Standard” to the office of City Councilor for Education Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) reveals that of the 18,722 students who attended the first grade of a public primary school on October 1st, 8,342 children, i.e. 44.6 percent, have an “extraordinary status”. This means that they cannot meet the language requirements.

The rate of poor language skills has increased compared to the previous year. While around 36 percent of students were considered exceptional in the 2022/23 school year, this number has now increased significantly. City Councilor for Education Wiederkehr explains that this increase is partly due to international crises, particularly the influx of refugees from Syria and Ukraine. However, a large proportion of the affected children, namely 5,084, are of Austrian origin and therefore born in Austria.

Criticism of the distribution of federal funds

In a recent press release, Wiederkehr expressed concern about inadequate federal funding. There is a significant lack of resources for promoting German. “The positions granted by the federal government are not enough,” he says. These scarce resources have already meant that money from other areas had to be used to support German promotion in the past.

The absolute number of students with exceptional status remains high, leading to an increased need for effective language support.

Calls for reforms in the education system

In an interview at the weekend, NEOS boss Beate Meinl-Reisinger expressed the proposal for a second compulsory kindergarten year. Johannes Kopf, head of the AMS, also spoke out in favor of this. The SPÖ emphasizes that such a measure is necessary, but financing must be ensured. The ÖVP, on the other hand, is calling for an expansion of childcare facilities for children under the age of three in order to invest in language development at an early stage.

The opposition in Vienna is extremely critical of the city government's education plans. The Green Party's education spokespersons, Julia Malle and Felix Stadler, are calling for fundamental reforms and an improvement in working conditions for German language support staff. The ÖVP also sharply criticized the situation. Education spokesman Harald Zierfuß describes the conditions as “unbelievable” and sees this as a failure of the previous governing parties SPÖ and NEOS in the kindergarten sector. He calls for compulsory kindergarten to be introduced for children with insufficient knowledge of German from the age of three.

Dominik Nepp, the head of the Vienna FPÖ, also made serious allegations against the city councilor for education. “Within four years, Wiederkehr managed to bring the education system in Vienna to the brink of the abyss,” said Nepp. He demands a guarantee from the NEOS boss that Wiederkehr will not be appointed to another higher office, such as that of education minister.

The current discussion about the language problem in Vienna makes it clear that there is an urgent need for action to improve the language skills of students. Further details on this topic can be found in an article in the “Standard”.