StepIn! Building Inclusive Societies through Active Citizenship. National Needs Analysis GERMANY. Adult Education Providers

Transcription

1 StepIn! Building Inclusive Societies through Active Citizenship National Needs Analysis GERMANY Adult Education Providers

2 What training courses for migrants exist in your country? Besides many other offers provided by the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, the most important training courses for migrants in Germany are the integration courses based on the German migration act from Private and public adult education providers can get certified by the Federal Office and then provide these courses. Since 2005 there were more than integration courses, conducted by more than 1500 providers. The integration courses contain a language course and an orientation course. The language course lasts not less than 600 hours. There are also special language courses which last up to 900 hours. The orientation course lasts 60 hours and targets on learning about the German legal system, history, culture and important values like religious freedom, tolerance and equality (BAMF, 2012a). The integration courses can also be passed in combination with special language courses, e.g. for women, parents and young people. There are also courses for literacy and crash courses (BAMF, 2012b). People who are looking for a job can visit the integration course Deutsch für den Beruf. This course integrates a German language course, career training and internships (BAMF, 2012c). Children in kindergarten and pupils get language support in the kindergarten and at school (BAMF, 2012d). To what extent do existing courses cover the enhancement of civic and social competences the issue of participation and civic engagement? This happens only to a low extent, because the courses consist of a high amount of language courses. From 660 hours are 600 hours language course and only 60 hours orientation course. This is an extent of only 9%. What priorities does your country have concerning adult education for migrants? Since the PISA-Studies of the OECD, language skills are seen as the most important precondition for successful integration. For this reason the priorities in Germany are set on integration courses which focus on the achievement of language skills and not on the achievement of civic or social competencies (BMI, 2012). Which measure / activities to avoid social exclusion for migrants does your country provide / how do they provide them?

3 There are many different measures to avoid social exclusion in Germany. Besides integration courses one important thing that you can find quite often are city development projects. Aim of these projects is to design the residential environment and the public space. In these projects the infrastructure within a city or a district is seen as an important component of successful integration (Die Bundesregierung, 2011, p. 433). The aim of city development politics is to conserve or develop districts with a mixed structure of population. This prevents the formation of ghettos and makes it easier for migrants to in social life. Another example are local integration councils which can be found in many cities in Germany like Hanover, Munich, Dresden, Heidelberg or Cologne. The task of these integration councils is to represent the interests of migrants in the municipality. Integration councils are aimed at the opening of the public and political sphere for migrants. Migrants get a voice within the city and can participate in social and political life. How is this effort provided, what is the outreach strategy? Is this functioning appropriately you think? Both examples (city development projects and integration councils) are closely linked to their respective local administrations. That means that all the channels of information these administrations dispose of can be used to reach the target groups (addresses for mailing, , personal contacts etc.). Another way to reach the target groups are the integration councils and other associations of/for migrants themselves. Already existing institutions and organizations, especially if their members are migrants, will always be a contact point for other migrants and furthermore these institutions and organizations are usually very well cross-linked among each other and with migrants themselves. Both strategies seem to be appropriate and could be useful for the StepIn!-project. Is the current policy and effort regarding integration likely to change? In what way? There might be some changes regarding integration in the next months/the next years due to elections. In 2012 there will be three elections in the German Länder (Saarland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig Holstein), which might change the majorities in the Bundesrat, who has strong influence on German legislation. And in 2013 there will be national elections on the Bundestag, which might deliver new majorities and a new federal government.

4 At the moment it can be assumed that the new majorities if there will be some will be more left than the current länder- and federal government, which could lead to more left orientated integration politics. What concrete changes such new majorities would deliver is hard to say, because it depends on the coalitions governing after the elections. How are existing activities evaluated in your country? The integration courses described above were evaluated only once, in 2006 (BMI, 2006). Good practices Lokaler Integrationsplan Hannover (Local Integration Plan) (LIP) The council of Hannover adopted the LIP in Task of the LIP is to term aims, action fields and measures for better integration of migrants in the region of Hanover. Before the LIP was approved, the Mayor of Hannover founded an integration council in order to include the affected groups in the process of its development. Members of the integration council are migrants, politicians and representatives of the church, NGOs, unions and chambers (Hannover, 2012a). The LIP consists of six action fields such as education, economy, social policy, city life, democracy and city administration. Altogether the LIP provides 244 action approaches. The implementation of the action approaches is regularly evaluated and published in the internet (Hannover, 2012b). Soziale Stadt (Social City) The city planning aid program Soziale Stadt started in 1999 with the aim to advance the living conditions in underprivileged districts. When the project started there were 161 districts in 124 municipalities participating. In 2010 there were 603 districts in 375 municipalities participating in the project (Soziale Stadt, 2011). Soziale Stadt promotes different kinds of projects. Examples: Ältere MigrantInnen im Stadtteilleben (Elder migrants in district life) This is a project in the city of Rüsselsheim. Target group of the project are migrants who are older than 55 years. The aim of the project is to enhance the participation of elder migrants in the social life of their district (Soziale Stadt, 2012a). Begegnungsstätte an der Moschee (Meeting place at the mosque) In Duisburg in the Ruhr area was a community center build in a mosque. The community center is open for everyone independent from religion. The center has a

5 council which coordinates the activities of the community center (Soziale Stadt, 2012b). Comments regarding the subject. --- Sources BAMF, 2012a: Integrationskurse - was ist das?, URL: se-node.html, (last BAMF, 2012b: Spezielle Kursarten, URL: arten/speziellekursarten-node.html, (last BAMF, 2012c: Deutsch für den Beruf: Das ESF-BAMF-Programm, URL: (last BAMF, 2012d: Deutschangebote für Kinder und Jugendliche, URL: angebotekindernode.html;jsessionid=96324d b9e55f7b490d0a02.1_cid251, (last BMI, 2006: Evaluation der Integrationskurse nach dem Zuwanderungsgesetz, URL: ntegrationskurse_de.pdf? blob=publicationfile, (last BMI, 2012: Integrationspolitik, URL: k/integrationspolitik_node.html, (last Die Bundesregierung, 2011: Nationaler Aktionsplan Integration Hannover, 2012a: Der Lokale Integrationsplan (LIP), URL: (last Hannover, 2012b: Umsetzung des Lokalen Integrationsplans, URL: (last access ) Soziale Stadt, 2011: Programm Soziale Stadt, URL: (last

6 Soziale Stadt, 2012a: Ältere MigrantInnen im Stadtteilleben, URL: (last Soziale Stadt, 2012b: Begegnungsstätte an der Moschee/Dialog unter dem Kuppelbau, URL: (last