Austria is introducing measures to combat antisemitism in the school system, including furthering Holocaust education.
A package of measures to address discrimination against Jewish students was announced by Austrian Education Minister Martin Polaschek, with the Ministry of Education alongside the Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalization (OeAD) crafting a strategy paper that will in part be used for training teachers to deal with antisemitism at teachers colleges and in training sessions, Der Standard reported.
“Teachers should be made aware of antisemitic incidents. Recommendations should be given on how to react against it,” Polaschek told to the Council of Ministers.
Textbooks and curricula will be reviewed by the Ministry of Education, which will also appoint contact people in departments of education.
Polaschek added that “education makes young people resistant to false information.”
The education minister urged teachers to promote learning that encourages combating antisemitism and to “anchor it in the education system in the long term,” according to the report.
“Antisemitism must always be fought effectively, whether at the dinner table, in the football stadium, on social media or at school, regardless of how it is articulated,” Oskar Deutsch, the president of the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG) said.
“Antisemitism is directed against the foundations of Austria and Europe and thus against all of us,” he added.