A Austrian child is learning Arabic instead of German to communicate with his classmates.
In an elementary school in the Alsergrund area of Vienna, a 7-year-old Austrian child is struggling to communicate with his classmates, as only three out of 25 students speak German. This language gap has led him to try to learn Arabic so that he can communicate with his peers.
His grandfather sent a message saying: "In my grandson's class, only three children know German. During recess and after school, only foreign languages are heard. My grandson has now started learning Arabic to understand what is going on around him."
This changing reality shows an aspect of the demographic shift in Austria, as one in five minors does not hold Austrian citizenship, which is about 340,000 children and young people, a number that has increased significantly since 1985. At the same time, the number of young Austrians has decreased from 1.6 to 1.2 million.
According to the Family Research Institute, 60% of foreign children aged 10 to 14 attend middle schools, compared to only 25% who enroll in upper secondary schools (AHS). This disparity in student distribution increases educational challenges, especially in areas lacking adequate support.
Many new children are striving to integrate, like a 17-year-old Chechen girl who is trying to excel in her studies, but she was attacked by her brother because he considered that she had deviated from his family "controls." He was later banned from approaching her by order of the authorities. What is happening in schools highlights a deeper crisis in Austrian society, where the German language is declining in some classes to become a minority language, raising widespread concerns about the future of education and cultural integration in the country.