This post is republished with permission from Remix News
A dormitory dispute at a vocational school in St. Pölten has landed a 17-year-old student from Lower Austria’s Mostviertel region with a week-long suspension — and the decision has drawn sharp criticism from politicians.
The trouble began with a matter of religious observance. Two Muslim girls sharing a four-person room at the St. Pölten State Vocational School’s boarding house were waking before dawn each morning during Ramadan to eat before sunrise, setting their alarm for 3 a.m.
Their two non-Muslim roommates found their sleep routinely broken as a result. One mother said the disruption went beyond just the early alarm.
Upon waking up at 3:00 a.m., the mother said that “they even turn up the music.”
Attempts to resolve the situation through a room reassignment came to nothing after the Muslim students declined to move.
Tensions eventually boiled over when the 17-year-old rang her mother late one night to vent.
“My daughter called me next time in a rage and let her frustration run wild,” her mother told the Kronen Zeitung.
The call took place in the corridor, where the roommates heard parts of it through the door. The Directorate of Education says the confrontation went further still, with the teenager allegedly going on to insult her roommates face to face — an exchange said to have been caught on video. The two girls subsequently reported her to school management.
The school quickly took the side of the two Muslim students, issuing the girl a one-week suspension from the boarding house.
The mother described it as coming out of nowhere.
“It was without warning. She was told by the management to reflect on her conduct and her choice of words,” she said.
The fallout has also crept into the classroom, with the mother claiming her daughter is now being made to sit apart from the others.
“Although the girls insulted each other, the teacher only heard or understood my child’s words,” she said. Authorities confirmed the student will be readmitted once the suspension ends, though she will be moved to a different room.
The case has since drawn in politicians. Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) deputy governor and Lower Austria state party chairman Udo Landbauer came out swinging against the school’s decision.
“When an Austrian vocational school student complains about her roommate breaking her fast at night and loud music and is subsequently suspended, one wonders: Do we actually still live in Austria?” he said in a press release.
He added: “Our children are suspended so that others can behave and break their fast. That’s not possible.”
The Freedom Party framed the episode as a question of integration, arguing that it requires newcomers to adapt to and respect the rules and culture of the country they have settled in.
FPÖ education spokesman Helmut Fiedler called for a thorough inquiry while striking a more balanced note.
“Of course, personal life and religious practice must be respected. At the same time, a boarding school has clear rules and rest periods that are binding for everyone. These must not be softened,” he said.
The clash between cultures may only increase in the coming years. Last year, Vienna reported that for the first time, over half of first graders do not speak sufficient German to learn in school. In addition, the city now features more Muslims than Christians in the elementary school system. This has led to an education system crisis in Austria’s largest city, but if demographic trends hold, this same crisis and the cultural clashes seen in Vienna will likely spread to the rest of the country.
This is also far from being only a problem in Austria. In Germany, a scandal has erupted after a school in Kleve informed students to turn away and eat their lunch in “secret” due to other Muslim children fasting during Ramadan.
“The Muslim children told my daughter and her friend: We have Ramadan, you must fast now and throw your bread in the bin!” the mother of a schoolgirl said about the incident. When the girls approached a teacher, he said “children should turn away while eating.”
Other parents also reported allegations of bullying from Muslim students. Some students reportedly made “choking and vomiting noises“ when other children ate. A student was insulted as an “ugly German girl.” One mother told Bild newspaper: “Demanding our daughter to turn away from eating and drinking or to hide it is a restriction of her personal freedom.”
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