Islam is playing an increasingly important role in schools. A recent case at a grammar school in Döbling shows how far consideration for Muslim pupils can go: A teacher refused to read aloud from the Bible because it was ‘not fair to Mohamed’.
As the newspaper Krone reports, in this case the Ministry of Education referred to the responsibility of the Directorate of Education, which in turn stated that there were ‘no guidelines for dealing with religious texts in German lessons’. This incident shows that teachers are often left alone when it comes to dealing with religious topics in everyday school life. It seems as if the focus is increasingly on avoiding conflicts with pupils or parents.
Thomas Krebs, a member of the teachers’ union, is now calling for harsh punishments for radical pupils and their parents. He emphasises that no improvement is possible without the support of parents. Krebs proposes that violent and radicalised pupils and their parents should be obliged to attend instruction meetings with the police. If this obligation is not fulfilled, he calls for fines of up to 5,000 euros.