So many students attend the Vienna orientation classes
Since the new school year, so-called orientation classes can be established nationwide. These classes are intended to prepare children and adolescents who have newly immigrated and have little or no prior experience with educational institutions for attending school in Austria. However, since family reunification has been suspended since July, the new offering remains an exception for now: only eleven orientation classes have been established nationwide, eight in Vienna and three in Vorarlberg.
First Orientation Classes in Vienna 2024
The model of orientation classes was created after thousands of children and adolescents, mainly from Syria, came to local schools through family reunification starting in early 2023, with the majority of them in Vienna. Many had previously lived for years in refugee camps, such as in Turkey, and had no prior school experience. Therefore, the first orientation classes were established in the federal capital in spring 2024, followed by Vorarlberg in the autumn. With this school year, the model was expanded to all federal states under Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS), who was previously Vienna's City Councillor for Education.
The fact that there are currently hardly any orientation classes in practice is due to the suspension of family reunification. This is currently only possible for hardship cases, and other immigrant children without prior school experience would also be eligible for the offering. According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP), family reunification should also be reduced to near zero after the end of this year.
The orientation classes are intended for children and adolescents who not only need support in German but also have problems with age-appropriate basic skills (recognizing characters and symbols, motor skills, social behavior, understanding social rules). For up to one semester, they are to learn values and basic rules of social coexistence in Austria as well as fundamental skills needed for school entry in these separate classes. The goal is for the students to be able to switch to a German support class or regular class as quickly as possible.
Arabic-speaking Region Strongly Represented
In Vienna, a total of 55 students are currently in orientation classes. All are still of compulsory school age, with the majority coming from the Arabic-speaking region. In Vorarlberg, 35 children from the 1st to the 9th grade are taught in an orientation class. Most come from Syria and Afghanistan, all have the status of extraordinary students due to poor German skills, are not literate, and have never attended school before.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.