Austria eases mandatory 'ghetto' language classes as they delay school progress

Eight years after its launch by a conservative-far-right administration, Austria's mandatory separate German language classes for refugee and immigrant students are being reformed. The programme removed pupils from regular classes for several hours each day, and an education-ministry assessment revealed that a notable proportion of those enrolled fall behind enough to repeat a grade. Starting this school year, schools may decide independently how to assist non-German-speaking learners, leading roughly half of them to abandon the separate classes.

Austria already has a relatively high share of over-age pupils, with OECD figures showing an increase in both primary and secondary schools over recent years. Critics have long described the classes as “ghetto” programmes, arguing they create learning delays and institutional discrimination. The policy shift follows criticism from education experts and the Freedom Party, which recently won the 2024 parliamentary election but lacks governing partners.