Over half of Ukrainians fail integration courses
The Federal Audit Office considers the performance of Ukrainians on integration courses to be "sobering". Many fail to reach the B1 language level and reach the level below, A2, which is not enough to successfully complete the course. The Federal Ministry of the Interior nevertheless sees an "excellent rate".
The Federal Audit Office complains about what it sees as the poor results of integration courses for Ukrainians. "Despite the high expenditure, the results are sobering; less than half of the Ukrainian war refugees successfully completed the integration courses," it says in an audit report to the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag, which is available to "Der Spiegel".
In its report, the Court of Auditors refers to figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). According to these figures, almost 450,000 Ukrainians have been admitted to an integration course since the start of the war in February 2022, with around 198,000 of them being allocated a place and able to start.
"More than half of the Ukrainian war refugees completed the integration course unsuccessfully," the Court of Auditors continued in its report. By the end of September 2023, around 135,000 Ukrainians had completed their integration course - 61,266 of them successfully, which is around 45 percent.
Many achieve A2 language level, but not B1
According to the BAMF, the final test of the general integration course consists of two parts: the language test, in which level B1 must be achieved, and a test on the subsequent orientation course, which is called "Life in Germany". It asks questions about the political system, religious diversity and equal rights(practice questions can be found here).
According to the "Spiegel" report, 52.8 percent of Ukrainians achieved level B1 in the language test and 38 percent also achieved the lower level A2, which is "an excellent rate". However, A2 is not enough to take part in the "Life in Germany" test and successfully complete the integration course.
In total, 56,750 of the 135,000 or so integration course participants failed the B1 language level. Around 16,500 dropped out of their courses without taking the test.
Improvements called for
Ukrainian refugees are considered to have an above-average level of education. According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost half of the refugees have an academic degree. Many of those seeking protection find it difficult to learn the Latin alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is used in their home country.
Almost one billion euros was available for integration courses this year - around a quarter more than in 2022. The government is planning to spend more than one billion euros on the courses next year.
The Court of Auditors is calling on the Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Office for Refugees to examine how they can ensure that more refugees from Ukraine successfully complete the courses.
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The Ukraine conflict and its refugees' integration into German society have been a point of contention. Despite the Federal Ministry of the Interior's positive assessment, the Federal Audit Office criticizes the poor results of integration courses, with over half of the refugees failing to reach the B1 language level. Furthermore, the integration policy in response to wars and conflicts like the one in Ukraine needs to be reevaluated to ensure more successful course completions.
Source: www.ntv.de
