At Viennese grammar school

Teacher forbids pupils to read from the Bible

Reading from the Bible? Not welcome in a Viennese grammar school out of consideration for Muslims.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

After domestic pigs and rainbows, is the Bible now also taboo in Viennese classrooms? A case at a grammar school in Döbling is causing a stir. Meanwhile, the teachers' union is calling for parents of violent children to be held accountable. 

Islam is increasingly finding its way into the classroom - we have reported, among other things, on pupils reading from the Koran during the break and pigs and rainbows being banned from lessons. A recent incident at a secondary school in Döbling shows that consideration for Muslim classmates seems to know no bounds.

The background: In the second grade, it is customary for pupils to read aloud from books in class. One pupil, who was longing for a change from Harry Potter & Co, asked the teacher if they could read from the Bible for a change. Her answer: "No, that's not possible, it wouldn't be fair to Mohamed." When the pupil recounted the incident at home, he was met with incomprehension. "My son likes to read the Bible, I don't understand why he's not allowed to do that at school," the father told the newspaper Krone.

When asked, the Ministry of Education rejected its responsibility for "specific incidents in the classroom" and referred the matter to the Directorate of Education. There, in turn, it is stated that there are "no recommendations for dealing with religious texts in German lessons".

Facts

The number of criminal acts against life and limb exploded in Viennese schools between 2021 and 2023. Here alone, the number rose from 289 to 722 cases.

However, this case also shows once again that teachers are often left alone in everyday school life. Sometimes it's just a matter of avoiding conflicts and potential minefields with pupils or parents. However, religious disputes in particular have long since become part of everyday school life.

Trade union calls for harsh punishments for radical pupils and their parents
Parents should also be given "detention" with the policeTeachers' union member Thomas Krebs (fcg) also wants the parents of students with behavioral problems to be held accountable. Krebs: "It won't work without them." Krebs is calling for violent and radicalized pupils to be required to attend police lessons together with their parents. Krebs: "Good persuasion and inconsequential meetings, as schools have been encouraged to do for years, are of no use." If this obligation is not met, there must be severe penalties - including escalation levels. Specifically, the teachers' representative has penalties of up to 5,000 euros in mind.