Girls under 14 can no longer wear Muslim headscarves in Austrian public and private schools, as a law that targets traditional Muslim head coverings takes effect with the start of the school year. The government says the measure protects the rights of young girls, while opponents warn it singles out Muslim children and risks fuelling exclusion.
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The ban was passed by the conservative-led coalition of the People’s Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos. Integration Minister Claudia Bauer, of the ÖVP, described the headscarf as "a sign of oppression and a means of controlling girls from the earliest childhood".
The official Islamic Community in Austria, IGGÖ, said it "firmly opposes the ban". Its spokesperson, Carla Amina Baghajati, argued the law "unjustifiably restricts the fundamental right to freedom of religion and disproportionately affects Muslim girls" and said the organisation would support families seeking to challenge the measure at the Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court previously struck down a ban on headscarves in primary schools in 2020 on grounds it conflicted with Austria’s religious neutrality, a precedent that legal challengers are likely to cite.
Schools are responsible for enforcing the ban. Teachers are instructed to hold a series of talks with a pupil and their legal guardians if a child wears a headscarf. Repeated breaches should be reported to child services, and as a last resort guardians could face fines of up to €800 (£685).
Some educators and opposition figures say the law shifts enforcement burdens onto already stretched teachers. Green Party MP Sigi Maurer accused Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr of "creating new conflicts and offloading them onto the teachers" and said teachers were "already under enormous strain". She added that Wiederkehr sought to "foist the role of police officers onto them".
The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) argued the ban does not go far enough, calling for a general prohibition on headscarves and face coverings for both students and teachers. FPÖ representative Ricarda Berger said there was "no place for political Islam in Austria, and certainly not in our schools". Chancellor Christian Stocker, leader of the ÖVP, has also pushed for broader measures, telling ORF he did not "want to live in an Islamic state" and calling for a constitutional ban on political Islam.
Austria already bans full face veils such as niqabs or burkas in public, a policy it shares with countries including France, Belgium and Denmark. France, moreover, has barred conspicuous religious symbols in schools for more than 20 years, but Austria’s new rule specifically targets head coverings worn by Muslim women, a distinction critics say risks increasing social tensions.
The immediate test for the law will be its application in classrooms and the legal challenges IGGÖ and affected families may bring to the Constitutional Court, which could determine whether the measure stands or is overturned.
