Excitement Over Search for Teacher with Turkish Language Skills in Baden

The search for a teacher with Turkish skills in Baden is causing a stir. At the practice elementary school of the University of Education Lower Austria in the spa town, a part-time position for physical education is to be filled. The advertisement listed "very good German, English, and Turkish skills in spoken and written form" as requirements. Criticism came from the FPÖ and ÖVP. The Ministry of Education has now asked the school to change the wording.

"German is spoken in our schools"

The practice elementary school, as a federal school, is under the ministry. A position with twelve weekly hours is advertised starting October 1st. According to principal Erwin Rauscher, the school is attended by nearly 200 children with 20 first languages, as reported by several media. Additional Turkish skills are merely intended to help reach individual children better in "difficult social times" and to specifically promote German, Rauscher told ORF Lower Austria. The language of instruction and interaction is German.

"The language of instruction at Austrian elementary schools is German," stated the education spokesperson of the FPÖ Lower Austria, state parliament member Helmut Fiedler, in a release over the weekend. Very good Turkish skills are "not absolutely necessary" for the profession and would "rather represent a discrimination against our own population." VPNÖ state manager Matthias Zauner expressed a similar view: "German is spoken in our schools." The job advertisement is very irritating, he said.

Ministry of Education was unaware of the advertisement

"The Ministry of Education is neither involved in the advertisement nor was it aware of it," a spokesperson said upon request. The wording, "the application is directed at persons who meet the following requirements," is "unclear and not legally precise," as it mixes legal requirements (German) with other "desired criteria" (English and Turkish). The ministry instructed the principal to take the advertisement offline and correct it, it was said.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.