Students in Austria strike against government's herd immunity policies
-
Loading... - James Fisher
- 20 Jan 2022
- 425 Views
- 1 Like
- 1 Comment
In the capital, Vienna, many students gathered in protests at several schools. In the Ottakring district, about 150 pupils protested on Schuhmeierplatz. With posters and chants, they demanded a safe pandemic policy and the suspension of the oral exam. Under the hashtags #WirStreiken (#WeAreStriking), #NichtMitUns (#NotWithUs) and #DurchseuchungOhneUns (#MassInfectionNotWithUs), the students documented their activities and spread their demands.
Around 100 students also demonstrated against the oral examination in front of the Bundesrealgymnasium in Linz. Participants from the graduating classes were supported by pupils from the 6th and 7th grades, as well as pupils from other schools. In Bregenz, about 100 students from the upper school protested.
During protests in Salzburg, student representatives announced that they would go on strike again next week if the government did not respond to the students’ demands. In Klagenfurt, pupils also took part in the strike, although both the Federal Pupils’ Representation and the Carinthia Regional Pupils’ Representation had spoken out against the strike.
In addition to the Aktion kritischer SchülerInnen (AKS, Critical Pupils Action), which is close to the Austrian Social Democratic Party, SPÖ), numerous school representatives supported and called for protests. Some limited their protest to the fact that the oral exam was not compulsory for graduation, which is absolutely justified in view of the pandemic, as well as because of inadequate preparation.
In the last two years, the oral exam has been voluntary. However, ÖVP Education Minister Martin Polaschek, one of the most aggressive advocates of a radical pandemic policy in the cabinet of Chancellor Karl Nehammer (also ÖVP), now wants to make it compulsory again.
An open letter from about 300 student representatives had appealed to the federal government for sufficient protective measures for Austria’s schools. It says: “The pandemic is now spreading over a considerable period of our lives and is placing an increasing burden on us. Your task would be to counteract this development. Instead, you are exacerbating it through your policies. You are breaking the camel’s back. This can’t go on any longer. #NotWithUs!” Read More…
DEBDUT BHADURI
🔥