In previous years, the number of state-financed language support has typically increased, in parallel with higher levels of language requirements, for example, for social welfare (see hereunder), long-term residence or naturalisation. It was intended that these programmes would be implemented or solidified in 2020, but instead the pandemic required re-thinking about the delivery method and anticipating the impact and risks of the new teaching environment.
The German Act on the Deployment of Social Services Providers provides aid, for example, for language course providers to help mitigate the effect of the pandemic and prevent bankruptcy.1167
At the end of March 2020, the French Ministry of the Interior posted several IT tools online to support language learning and social orientation for newcomers. A pilot project on language classes was launched in the framework of the Republican Integration Contract for online instruction, with 15 to 24 hours of training a week, with a maximum of 4 hours a day. Smaller groups are organised for beginners as the online platform already requires a certain level of French knowledge.1168
Fundación Cepaim observed the lack of free and accessible Spanish courses for adult beneficiaries of international protection.1169
The AIDA report for Poland noted that only around 35% of beneficiaries attended language courses, as courses were either lacking in some municipalities or were organised in time slots difficult to reconcile with work, and the curriculum was not adapted to beneficiaries’ specific needs and interests.1170
[1167] Federal Employment Agency | Bundesagentur für Arbeit. (2021). Informationen zum Sozialdienstleister-Einsatzgesetz, SodEG [Information on the Social Service Provider Employment Act (SodEG)]. https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/institutionen/sodeg-sozialdienstleister-einsatzgesetz
[1168] European Web Site on Integration. (2020, May 13). Covid-19: La continuité des formations linguistiques á destination des étrangers primo-arrivants en France [COVID19: Continuity of language training for newcomers in France]. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/covid-19-la-continuite-des-formations-linguistiques-a-destination-des-etrangers-primo-arrivants-en-france?lang=en&cookies=disabled
[1169] Foundation Cepaim | Fundación Cepaim. (2021). Input to the EASO Asylum Report 2021. https://easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Cepaim.pdf
[1170] AIDA Poland. (2021). Country Report: Poland—2020 Update. Edited by ECRE. Written by Karolina Rusilowicz, Ewa Ostaszewska and Maja Lysienia. https://asylumineurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AIDA-PL_2020update.pdf
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