“Second compulsory kindergarten year for children with little knowledge of German is the order of the day!”

FPÖ education spokesman NAbg. Hermann Brückl was outraged by the current figures from the federal capital Vienna, according to which more and more children born here do not speak German well enough: “According to current figures, around 44.6 percent of first graders in Vienna do not know the German language, but 61 of them are already percent already born in Austria. The failed migration policy shows once again that we are not only on the brink of collapse, but already in the middle of catastrophe.”

In language level surveys, which take place around two years before starting school, specialists are supposed to observe the children during everyday kindergarten life and determine their language progress. “And how,” Brückl continues, “is a language level assessment supposed to take place if only one year in kindergarten is compulsory? Here, the language proficiency assessment must begin much earlier, regardless of whether the children attend kindergarten or not. If German language skills are poor, a second compulsory year of kindergarten must be imposed in the future.”

“In view of the alarming figures from the federal capital, this measure must be implemented as soon as possible and the political thumbscrew should be applied to family benefits as a sanction. Anyone who does not support their children, who is not prepared to fulfill their obligation to bring children and accept language learning offers, should have their family benefits reduced. Although this measure sounds very repressive, it seems to be the only method to contribute to a change in thinking in the respective immigrant communities,” said Brückl.

“The People’s Party has also been delinquent in this area for years, because we Freedom Party negotiated into the government program in 2017 that a second compulsory year of kindergarten was necessary for all those who suffer from major language deficiencies. Although the People’s Party has been the Minister of Education for years, it has not delivered any useful results in this area – or anywhere else. So if you measure the People’s Party’s educational policy – including in the elementary educational sector – by its results, you can unfortunately only come to one conclusion: measured and weighed, but ultimately found to be too easy! Here too, the ÖVP has once again documented its political failure,” emphasized Brückl.