A significant shift is occurring in Vienna’s classrooms, where Muslims have now become the largest religious group among pupils.
Recent data reveals that 41.2% of children in primary and secondary schools in Austria’s capital are Muslim. This is an increase from last year’s 39.4%.
In contrast, 34.5% of the students are Christians, with 17.5% identifying as Roman Catholic and 14.5% as Orthodox. A further 23% of the children do not belong to any religious group.
Deputy Mayor of the city Bettina Emmerling said the numbers are concerning, and reflect dangerous developments in Viennese classrooms, such as a rise in antisemitism, hostility towards LGBT people, and the rejection of equality between men and women.
The most popular party in Austria, the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPÖ) said: “What we as the FPÖ have been warning about for decades, but which has always been dismissed as right-wing scaremongering, is reality today: immigration has completely overwhelmed our country with foreigners.”
