Austrian Teacher Lifts Lid on Chaos in Migrant Language Classes

A German language teacher working in Vienna’s state-funded education program for migrant children has sounded the alarm on the abuse she and her colleagues experience during lessons, describing a classroom environment plagued by chaos, disrespect, and an unwillingness to learn.

Speaking anonymously to the Exxpress over fear of reprisal, the teacher paints a bleak picture of the free tutoring initiative financed by the city, which supports more than 12,000 schoolchildren annually, most from migrant backgrounds. The goal of the program is to improve skills in German, English, and mathematics. In practice, the teacher says, it often descends into disorder.

“Arabic roaring, soccer in the classroom, and zero respect,” she recounts. “I fight for two hours against a total refusal to learn.”

Instead of engaging with lessons, students allegedly shout, play with their phones, throw worksheets on the ground, or simply walk out of class. Some demand to pray during lessons, while others show up once a month or not at all, sometimes citing the prioritization of religious activities as a reason for their absence.

Despite each two-hour session costing Austrian taxpayers €57 per teacher, along with the free provision of school supplies like notebooks and pens, attendance and motivation among students remain low. “Often, only one child out of ten registered students actually comes to class,” the teacher claims.

In one alarming incident, a teacher tried to follow a child who had left the classroom unsupervised, only to find herself locked inside by other students holding the door shut.

“Every time I turn on the electronic blackboard, one of the children immediately switches it off again. A colleague is constantly mocked by a group of boys. Some leave in tears,” she says. Even fellow teachers with migrant backgrounds are reportedly reluctant to continue teaching these classes. “They don’t want to teach children like that.”

Respect for authority is said to be minimal. “We’re almost never greeted — unless a Muslim teacher walks in. Then it’s warm welcomes,” she adds. When asked what they like about Austria, some students reportedly respond, “Nothing at all.”

The issues go beyond behavior to fundamental learning challenges. Even students attending higher-level schools such as AHS reportedly struggle with basic German, despite having lived in Austria for years. “Past tense? Never heard of it. Sentence structure? Nothing,” she laments.

The city’s “German Start” summer program, designed for children with no German skills, is also said to be underused. Many students reportedly prefer to spend the summer abroad. “I don’t want to learn anything in the summer — I’m in Turkey for two months!” one student is quoted as saying.

For the teacher, the experience has become deeply demoralizing. “I feel like a supplicant who has to humiliate herself in front of the children — just so that they can learn German with me,” she says.

The Austrian government recently announced plans to suspend family reunification for asylum seekers in the country, claiming the measure was necessary to prevent further overloading of the Austrian social system.

Chancellor Christian Stocker told journalists last month the suspension would help to ensure “the quality of the school system.”

The measure aligns with public opinion, with a survey published in March revealing more than 80 percent of citizens back tighter asylum regulations.

In addition, migrant children will soon be required to attend orientation classes ahead of joining the main classrooms with other German-speaking students.

Under the new system announced by Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr, children will first attend a semester-long orientation class where they will acquire basic German language skills to facilitate communication, fundamental school skills, such as writing, using scissors, and following classroom etiquette, and social values including respect, equality, and tolerance.

“This is a way to introduce young people without school experience to learning,” said Wiederkehr. “The German remedial class will be the next step for most of them. But even there, teaching German is difficult if students have never sat in a classroom before. The orientation class prepares them for this and thus relieves both the regular and the German remedial classes.”