The Institute for Intercultural Communication (IIK) in Göttingen has reason to celebrate. The opportunity for refugee students to be successfully integrated into German higher education is the focus of current developments.
Although 51 students were faced with the challenge that funding for their language courses through the DAAD's INTEGRA programme was no longer available due to framework conditions related to grant regulations, the IIK quickly found a solution by setting up a donation-financed scholarship programme, for which 33 refugee students have applied.
This programme has already had its first successes. Thanks to generous donations from the Heineken brewery (17,000 euros), the Bürgerstiftung Göttingen (4,000 euros) and private donors (4,000 euros in total), the non-profit organisation is able to help eight refugee students from the Ukraine to improve their German language skills to the level required for to be admitted to a German university.
The students can now successfully complete the C1 language course within six months. successfully within six months. This is an important prerequisite for applying for a place at university and to obtain a longer residence permit in Germany. Thanks to the generous donations, the costs of their language courses were covered and the way for their successful integration was paved.
In the process, the language courses are also offered to four Ukrainian refugees, who would have been threatened with deportation if they had not been able to complete a language course.
The IIK thus makes an important contribution to the integration of refugees in their studies and life in Germany and will continue to be committed to this goal. The remaining 25 refugees at the IIK who want to take a language course, also have the opportunity to improve their German language skills through the integration courses financed by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), if no further funding is available through the scholarship programme.
The IIK is convinced that education and integration are keys to promoting and inclusive society, and calls on committed citizens to support the IIK and to encourage eligible refugees and their and to support their integration into higher education.
Carsten Manns | IIK Göttingen e.V.
