Almost 45 percent first-graders in Vienna do not know German

Nearly 45 percent Viennese first-graders do not know German – informed the authorities of the Austrian capital. Seven years ago it was just over 30%. According to the Vienna city hall, one of the reasons for this situation is the influx of migrants who do not speak German.

The report published on Tuesday by the Vienna City Hall shows that out of 16.7 thousand 7,386 students who started their first grade in Viennese public primary schools in September this year were classified as having exceptional learning difficulties.

According to the official definition, this means that such children do not have sufficient knowledge of the German language to fully participate in classes. The percentage of first-graders in this category is therefore approximately 44.2 percent, while in the fall of 2018 it was only 30.5 percent.

Vienna's city councilor for education, Bettina Emmerling, explained in an interview with the “Der Standard” daily that one of the factors that led to this situation was undoubtedly the influx of migrants. – Whether from Syria or Ukraine: people coming to Austria very rarely speak German anymore – the politician emphasized. The councilor added that another reason is the lack of assimilation of a significant number of asylum seekers.

“The majority of students with special educational needs, 60.9 percent, were born in Austria,” she said, citing data for last year. The media notes that this means that many migrant children grow up in isolated communities where they largely cope without the German language.

According to the deputy mayor of Vienna, Christoph Wiederkehr, the problem is much more complex. “The coronavirus pandemic paralyzed language support provided by external staff in kindergartens for almost two years, and smartphones silenced many family conversations. Added to this are the frugality of previous federal governments, which financed too few employees supporting German language learning,” the politician explained in an interview with the newspaper.

The Vienna authorities are taking actions to help improve the situation. More funds were allocated, among others, to: to employ additional teachers to support learning German in kindergartens. In turn, federal authorities are planning to introduce obligation for students with special educational needs to attend compulsory classes during the holidays and extension of compulsory preschool to two years.

Tomasz Dawid Jędruchów (PAP)

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