Vienna's Vice President pushes for a "future city council" in the city.
The Vienna People's Party (ÖVP) has presented a master plan aimed at addressing the rising number of Muslim students in Vienna's compulsory schools and the challenges posed by population growth. This plan, which emphasises integration and the prevention of fundamentalist influences, has been proposed by the party in light of changing societal dynamics in Vienna.
Caroline Hungerlaender, the integration spokeswoman for the ÖVP, has highlighted that more than 41% of children in Vienna's compulsory schools are of Muslim faith, while children with Christian faith make up only around 35%. This demographic shift has led Hungerlaender to question whether Vienna is heading towards becoming an Islamic city in the future.
The plan, which is intended to be future-oriented, outlines several key measures. Central to these is the explicit teaching of democratic values to Muslim children. City councilor Bettina Emmerling has emphasised the need to reject any lifestyle based on fundamentalist interpretations that are hostile to women, minorities, the state, or democracy.
In addition, the plan calls for enhanced monitoring and regulation of Islamic educational institutions to prevent segregation and radicalisation. This includes increased scrutiny and vetting of Islamic kindergartens, with calls to shut down those that isolate pupils linguistically and culturally from society.
The plan also proposes legislative bans on religious symbols in early education settings to reinforce social cohesion. The government aims to expand bans on religious symbols like headscarves from kindergartens to elementary schools. Furthermore, an agency is proposed to be established to monitor Islamic political activities in Austria, modelled after the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance (DÖW), to safeguard democratic and secular values.
The Vienna People's Party has criticised the NEOS for failing in their responsibility for education and integration, and for not addressing central questions such as the development of Vienna, avoiding parallel societies, integrating immigrants, and coexistence of major religious communities. In response, the party intends to address these questions with the help of a new city council, according to Mahrer.
These steps are framed as necessary responses to population growth and the challenges of integrating Muslim students within Vienna's educational and societal framework. The Vienna People's Party believes that anyone living in Vienna should speak the local language, respect values, and laws, including equality, religious freedom, personal responsibility, law and order.
- The education-and-self-development of Vienna's Muslim students is a key focus of the Vienna People's Party's (ÖVP) master plan, which aims to address the rising number of Muslim students in Vienna's compulsory schools and the challenges posed by population growth.
- Tackling population growth and integrating Muslim students within Vienna's societal framework requires a proactive approach, like the explicit teaching of democratic values to Muslim children, as proposed in the ÖVP's plan.
- In terms of policy-and-legislation, the Vienna People's Party's plan includes legislative bans on religious symbols in early education settings, increased scrutiny of Islamic kindergartens, and the establishment of an agency to monitor Islamic political activities in Austria, all aimed at reinforcing social cohesion and safeguarding democratic and secular values.
