Dresden (dpa/sn) – The Chemnitz project “Network – Help for self-help” received the Sterntalerpreis 2022, endowed with 3000 euros, for its commitment to language education for children with a migration background. It combines professionalism and voluntary commitment in order to reduce the deficits in the children’s language and school education that have arisen during the pandemic, said Saxony’s Commissioner for Foreigners Geert Mackenroth (CDU), according to the announcement at the award ceremony on Tuesday in Dresden. The award is presented annually by the Commissioner for Foreigners and the Child Protection Association of Saxony.
Thanks to the network, many children are learning the German language and are getting orientation, said Susann Rüthrich, the government’s commissioner for children and young people, in her laudatory speech. The cooperation across school careers gives children and young people individual support “which helps them to integrate into society,” praised Christina Koch, Chairwoman of the Saxony Child Protection Association.
The network, which has existed since 2015, reaches around 1000 children and young people with its language lessons (DaZ). The project, which is also the contact for the families for orientation in everyday life and when dealing with authorities, also makes it easier to approach traumatized children.
According to the Commissioner for Foreigners, in March 2021 10.6 percent of the daycare children in the Free State had at least one parent of foreign origin and in autumn 2021 the language of origin for almost 11.5 percent of the pupils was not German or not only German. In June 2022 there were 50 welcome day care centers across the country, 28.7 percent of the children there had a refugee or migration background. On November 10, 2021, 6,848 unaccompanied minor refugees were staying in Saxony, and a further 524 were admitted from the beginning of the year to July.
