2024-01-09 15:00:15
Since 2015, legally mandatory values and orientation courses have offered initial orientation in Austria / focus on rapid labor market integration
Vienna (OTS) – Since its launch in 2015, 100,000 people have now taken part in the values and orientation courses, which are legally mandatory for those entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection. To date, over 7,500 values and orientation courses have taken place throughout Austria. The values and orientation courses run by the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF), originally one-day and expanded to three days in 2022, provide orientation in Austria and central topics of integration such as the importance of learning German and the ability to self-preserve, equal rights for men and women and the importance of volunteer work integration in Austria. In 2024, a new focus will be placed on the possibility of entering the labor market in Austria with little knowledge of German.
Integration Minister Susanne Raab: “100,000 people have taken part in the mandatory values and orientation courses since 2015. Here we convey basic values such as equality between women and men, the fight once morest anti-Semitism and the need to find a job quickly. The labor market in Austria currently offers a lot of opportunities with a lot of vacancies, so I have no understanding if refugees don’t take advantage of these opportunities and instead receive social assistance for many months. Austria promotes integration and at the same time demands active participation and willingness to integrate.”
Sandra Ivkic, overall manager of integration measures at the ÖIF: “Many participants do not have completed school or vocational training; 2 out of 3 refugees with new status are not literate in any or not in the Latin script. The renewed module on labor market integration in the courses takes these developments into account; the focus is on a quick introduction to self-preservation skills and learning German while working.”
2024: Focus on entering the labor market with little knowledge of German
In view of the high demand for labor in the Austrian economy and the average low level of education of those entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection, the focus of the courses is on the possibility of quickly entering the labor market with still limited knowledge of German. Basic information regarding job searches and applications is provided. Also new is a practical, multilingual ÖIF brochure “Finding a job faster” with tips for entering the labor market in Austria. After the course, course participants will know which steps are necessary for a quick entry into the job market, which entry options are available for people with limited knowledge of German and what should be particularly taken into account when looking for a job or in the application process in Austria. In addition, the participants get to know the ÖIF’s comprehensive part-time German learning offer so that they can continue to learn German well in parallel to their work following starting work.
Further offers for learning German independently and part-time
Following on from the courses, there are a number of support offers for working and learning German: In addition to ÖIF career platforms, which connect job-seeking participants in ÖIF German courses directly with companies that need workers, the ÖIF also provides immigrants with seminars and consultation hours with experts on the subject of career and educational opportunities. Mentoring programs such as KOMPASS and “Mentoring for Migrants”, application training and CV checks are also offered. In addition to German courses with course providers at off-peak times, the ÖIF offers a range of daily online German courses and job-specific online courses in the hotel and hospitality industry, food retail and nursing and health professions on Sprachportal.at, the largest German learning platform in the German-speaking region, which are available regardless of location and can be attended part-time.
Every second participant from Syria / proportion of women 32 percent
The values and orientation courses take place continuously throughout Austria and are carried out by qualified trainers from the ÖIF. The courses are held in German, and if necessary, interpreters are available for several languages: Since the beginning in 2015, a total of 56 percent of all courses have been interpreted in Arabic and around 33 percent in Dari/Farsi, and English, Russian and Somali are also interpreted offered. At around 49 percent, almost half of the course participants have Syrian citizenship, around 24 percent of the participants come from Afghanistan, followed by Iraq with around 7 percent and Somalia and Iran with around 5 percent. The proportion of women in the values and orientation courses is on average 32 percent; following the introduction of the legal obligation to take part in the courses in 2017, the proportion of women more than doubled from 20 percent to 45 percent.
Anti-Semitism module developed with the IKG positively evaluated by IHS
In 2022, the values and orientation courses were expanded from one to three days and expanded to include new topic modules on volunteer work in collaboration with the Red Cross and on anti-Semitism in collaboration with the Israelite Community (IKG). The anti-Semitism module sensitizes participants to anti-Semitic attitudes and shows how they can be counteracted. An evaluation by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) was carried out in 2023: The anti-Semitism module sensitizes participants in the values and orientation course to the need to prevent anti-Semitism right at the beginning of their integration process and encourages reflection and confrontation with personal prejudices and provides options for action and important contact points in the context of anti-Semitism.
Wide range of in-depth integration offers: 89,000 participants
Following the three-day values and orientation course, those entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection – as well as Ukrainian displaced persons and immigrants – have access to a range of in-depth integration offers: In addition to integration courses in Vienna, important voluntary organizations such as Caritas, the volunteer fire brigade, the relief organization and the Diakonie as well as cultural or democratic institutions such as the House of History, the Austrian Parliament and the Vienna City Hall as well as memorials and contact points in the regions can be visited. The ÖIF women’s centers also offer advice, seminars and consultation hours with experts on topics such as career and educational opportunities in Austria, health and family, as well as violence prevention and self-determination. So far, 89,000 participants have been recorded in the in-depth integration offers that follow on from attending the values and orientation course.
About the values and orientation courses
The values and orientation courses have been held since the sharp increase in the number of refugees in 2015 and have been mandatory for those entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection since the Integration Act came into force in 2017. Since the courses were expanded from eight to 24 hours in January 2022, over 22,000 people have taken part in the values and orientation courses. In 2023, the ÖIF recorded around 560 values and orientation courses across Austria with a total of 11,000 participants. Ongoing surveys following the courses show that participants are very satisfied with the offer. In 2022 and 2023, over 90 percent of those surveyed rated the course content as very helpful for arriving in Austrian society.
Photo for printing here available free of charge.
Credit: Olha Soldiersko/ÖIF
Questions & Contact:
Austrian Integration Fund
+43 17 10 12 03 375
[email protected]
1704812503
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