Integration courses usually last a few months. Around 37,000 people from Ukraine have started such a course in NRW. Another number is even higher.
Nuremberg/Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) – Around 63,400 people have already started integration courses in North Rhine-Westphalia this year. Around 37,000 of them came from Ukraine, according to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf). According to the Nuremberg authorities, a total of 114,000 authorizations for such courses were granted in NRW, 72,000 times to Ukrainians.
The fact that many people from the country attacked by Russia are not yet registered with one of the course providers, i.e. have not yet taken any steps to claim the right, is understandable from the point of view of a Bamf spokesman: “That is against the background of the uncertain situation in which people find themselves, is neither surprising nor alarming.” According to the Federal Office, it can also take a certain amount of time to find the right course. Therefore, the start of the course is often delayed after the authorization and the placement test have been granted.
Integration courses were introduced after 2005. They therefore last 700 hours, of which 600 make up the language part. The other 100 hours are about values, the legal system and the social system. The courses are put together according to the respective language level and are aimed at all immigrants – regardless of their origin. Only adults attend these integration courses; in Germany, school attendance is compulsory for minors. There are numerous educational opportunities there.
According to the Federal Office, the integration courses for Ukraine refugees were opened in mid-March. These courses usually last seven to nine months, and special and part-time courses longer. Many would have started in May and June – so far relatively few have completed a course.
Nationwide, the number of entitlements to participate in integration courses is heading for a record high. According to Bamf, around 560,000 such authorizations were granted from January to the beginning of November this year, around 26,000 more than in the previous record year 2016. The numbers could still change due to subsequent registrations, it said.
