|
|
|
Integration courses
Since a few years, all immigrants into Germany
are offered so-called integration courses. The goal׃ the migrants
should be able to make themselves understood in German and should fit
in to German society by gaining an insight into the legal system,
culture and history of Germany.
Integration courses consist of a language course and orientation
course. 45 hours of the orientation course are devoted to German
culture, the legal system, politics, and values.
The regular language courses consist of 600 hours (1 hour = 45
minutes). The course is divided into six modules. One module has 100
hours. The German courses can be attended full time (20 -25 hours per
week) or part time. The part time courses allow attend the courses
employed people or parents to attend.
Certain qualified language schools or institutes offer these courses in
every town. The list of these can be obtained together with an entry
qualification certificate from the foreign office. Before starting a
course, your knowledge needs to be tested in order to ascertain the
starting module.
Course participants are free to choose the language school and they can
change to another language school at the end of each module if they
feel that it is not suitable. However, it is necessary to attend
courses regularly, and complete modules.
The courses are supported by centres of consulting for migrants and are supplemented with extra offers.
The courses work on the principles of support and need fulfilment. They
are funded by the government as follows: if somebody is unemployed or
in receipt of social benefits, the government bears all costs. If
somebody is employed, he or she pays 1 € per hour (100 hours=100
€) and the government pays the rest. People who come to Germany in
order to study are unfortunately not funded by the government.
The successful attendance of integration courses is also funded: The
course participants must reach the B1 level at the end of the course.
This is confirmed if the Zertifikat Deutsch exam is passed. If this
exam is failed, the participant is entitled to a further 300 hours of
German language course modules.
There are also special courses for young people, for women, and for
course participants who cannot write or read. These courses last 900
hours, after which the participants attend a 45-hour orientation
course. Both are followed by an exam.
If the exams Zertifikat Deutsch and for the orientation course are
passed, one obtains the Zertifikat Integration, which is necessary to
apply for residence permit or for German citizenship.
We are glad to advise you personally about the details of integration
courses, possibilities of funding and exams in our office (in several
languages).
|
|
|
