Minister's Plan:

State Oversight of Religious Education

The minister wants to know what is being taught in Islamic religious education classes.(Bild: picturedesk.com)

First the headscarf ban, now religious education: Integration Minister Claudia Bauer (ÖVP) is continuing her campaign against political Islam. In the future, the government will take a closer look at who teaches religious education and what is taught.

Since the start of the school year, girls under the age of 14 have been prohibited from wearing headscarves in Austrian schools. But for Integration Minister Claudia Bauer, this addresses only part of the problem. “When it comes to Islamic religious education, many conversations and reports from schools show me that there is a need for action,” she says. Parents report that, despite their own religious beliefs, they are opting their children out of religious education classes—out of “fear of indoctrination.”

Political Islam specifically targets children and young people. That is why we must take a close look at this.

Claudia Bauer, ÖVP- Integrationsministerin

Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT

Now Bauer wants to know what is actually happening there. “Religious education must not be a space for indoctrination or parallel societies,” the minister emphasizes, calling for state oversight of denominational religious education. In the future, the state should be better able to monitor who is teaching, what content is being taught, and what materials are being used, with the help of a “religion-independent school oversight body.”

“We Must Not Turn a Blind Eye”
“We must not turn a blind eye to religious education,” says Bauer. For upper secondary school, for example, there aren’t even uniformly prescribed teaching materials.

Of course, she does not want to undermine denominational religious education; she stands “100 percent behind this important achievement.” But quality standards and effective state oversight are needed.

This oversight is to be part of the planned measures against political Islam and is also included in the government’s platform: “Religion must promote coexistence in our country, and no religion is above the law,” Bauer said.