Posted on April 2, 2009

Most Migrants in Vienna Schools

Wiener Zeitung, March 31, 2009

A report issued by the Ministry of Education states that almost all students are migrants in a fifth of primary schools in some Vienna districts. The 474-page report, issued in response to 69 parliamentary questions by Freedom Party (FPÖ) education spokesman Walter Rosenkranz, defines migrant students as those who are foreigners or whose mother tongue is not German. The report says migrants make up 90 per cent of the total number of students at 8.1 per cent of the capital’s 262 primary schools, compared to one per cent for Austria as a whole, and are almost a majority (49.6 per cent on average) in half of city schools. Leopoldstadt is the district with the highest percentage (60.9 per cent), followed by Brigittenau (58.6 per cent). In Vienna, one-third of all students are migrants at 59.8 per cent of city schools, compared to 13.7 per cent in the entire country. Overall, Vienna has 40.4 per cent of Austria’s migrant students, with Vorarlberg next with 19.6 per cent.