A primary school in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna is celebrating the Islamic Ramadan next Tuesday and all pupils are expected to take part. Parents are particularly upset that the same school does not celebrate Christmas.
School attendance is compulsory on that day, as the school management informed parents in a letter. Anyone who does not want to send their children to school should discuss this in advance with the ‘class teacher’. The father of one of the pupils noted that although the end of Ramadan, the so-called breaking of the fast, is now being celebrated, there was no Christmas celebration at school. The child is also said to have mentioned several times that his classmates often hardly speak any German. Some are even said to only speak Arabic, which is why an Arabic-speaking teacher has to take part in the lessons.
The Vienna Education Directorate told heute.at that the Ramadan celebration was a voluntary event that would last a maximum of ten to 15 minutes. Pupils who do not want to take part in the Muslim festival do not have to.
Wiener Volksschule feiert Ramadan, aber kein Weihnachten – Unzensuriert