Chaos Is Inevitable

Headscarf Ban: Muslims Vow to Defy It

Girls up to age 14 are no longer allowed to wear headscarves.(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER / APA / picturedesk.com)

On September 7, classes will resume in Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland. Girls up to age 14 will then no longer be allowed to wear headscarves to school. This could lead to a full-blown culture war in many places. The teachers’ union is alarmed. Several Muslim communities have announced that they will defy the law.

The headscarf ban prohibits female students up to the age of 14 from wearing Islamic head coverings on school grounds. According to estimates, up to 12,000 girls across Austria are affected.

While teachers’ representative Paul Kimberger (FCG) welcomes measures against political Islam—and thus also the headscarf ban for children—he warns of looming conflicts in schools. “Some communities have already come forward and announced that they will not comply with the ban,” Kimberger said in an interview with the “Krone.”

Das sagt das Gesetz:

Strafen für Verweigerer

Die Regelung im Schulunterrichtsgesetz dient dem Schutz der kindlichen Entwicklung und knüpft an die in Österreich ab 14 Jahren geltende Religionsmündigkeit. 
Bei einem Verstoß ermahnt die Lehrkraft zunächst die Schülerin und meldet den Vorfall an die Schulleitung. Diese muss Gespräche mit dem Kind und den Eltern führen. 
Bei anhaltenden Verstößen schaltet sich die Bildungsdirektion ein. Ignorieren die Erziehungsberechtigten das Verbot fortgesetzt, kommt es zu einer Anzeige und in weiterer Folge können Verwaltungsstrafen zwischen 150 und 800 Euro verhängt werden.
Das Kopftuch kann aber nicht zwangsweise abgenommen werden.

Union Calls for Full Support for Teachers
Politicians cannot simply offload this problem onto schools alone. Comprehensive measures are needed to combat political Islam. “Many teachers are wondering whether they will receive support from school and security authorities or be left to fend for themselves. In any case, the fall will be challenging. We are waiting with bated breath,” says the teachers’ representative.

Talking to a Salafist about the headscarf ban will make little sense.

Lehrervertreter Paul Kimberger

How well are teachers prepared?
The union has provided informational materials for teachers and schools. “But it makes little sense for a principal to speak with the father of a girl who is a Salafist. Talking to a Salafist about the headscarf ban will make little sense.”

According to information from the “Krone,” there are likely to be varying levels of awareness of the issue even within schools. Two Viennese elementary school teachers from troubled schools have reached out to the “Krone.” They said they have not yet received any clear instructions, guidelines, or handbooks from their schools. “We’re supposed to implement this in about two weeks. Are they planning to inform us only on the first day of school? What am I supposed to do if a girl actually stands in front of me and her entire family starts arguing with me?” said one teacher.

Girls are no longer allowed to wear headscarves after age 14.(Bild: APA/HERBERT NEUBAUER / APA / picturedesk.com)

Other schools, on the other hand, are already much better prepared. A parent representative from a Viennese high school told the “Krone”: “We held informational meetings back in May and informed the parents afterward. In addition, we’ve already reached out to the Muslim families affected. It’s still hard to estimate how many will actually refrain from wearing a headscarf on the first day of school.”

Teacher and author Susanne Wiesinger fears that the anger of the affected parents and children will be directed at the teachers. “Problems can and will arise,” says Wiesinger, but she expressly welcomes the ban because “it’s about child protection and equal treatment.” “The girls aren’t doing this of their own free will, but because they want to please others, because their families are pressuring them, because they want to provoke, or because they want to be good Muslim women,” Wiesinger told the *Krone*.

New rules are mandatory for all schools
The Ministry of Education has compiled relevant information and created guidelines. Following initial concern about the consequences for teachers, Minister Christoph Wiederkehr’s office emphasizes that teachers will not impose penalties. They will only report violations—which they are, in fact, required to do.

A circular sent to schools states unequivocally: “The regulation is legally binding; the school has no discretion. If the regulation is not consistently enforced, it constitutes a breach of duty by teachers and school administrators.”

Education Minister Wiederkehr is facing a turbulent fall.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

The ministry, however, notes “that the proceedings are not conducted at the school.” The goal is to protect the relationship of trust between teachers and students by involving the school administration for a first violation and the state education authorities as the governing body for subsequent violations.

What are the consequences of a total refusal?
If, after warnings, counseling sessions, and penalties, there is still no change, the issue will be removed from the school’s jurisdiction in problematic cases.

A headscarf ban was already enacted in 2019 under the ÖVP-FPÖ government at the time, but it was overturned by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it violated the principle of equal treatment. Numerous lawsuits have already been filed against the “new” ban as well. However, the Constitutional Court dismissed the first complaints because the ban has not yet affected anyone. That will change soon...