New rules for integration courses will speed up integration / Further financing of courses secured
press release 27 November 2024
Federal Government adopts new Ordinance on Integration Courses.
Today, the Federal Cabinet adopted a new Ordinance on Integration Courses that will make the course system more effective and efficient. The Federal Government will continue the integration courses in 2025 and will, as necessary, cover the courses’ financial requirements while operating on a tentative budget. Federal Minister of the Interior Faeser and Federal Minister of Finance Kukies agreed on this.
The integration course is comprised of a language course and an orientation course, which generally total 700 hours of instruction. In these courses, immigrants learn the German language and are taught further knowledge about Germany’s legal system, history and culture, as well the most important values in Germany, such as freedom of religion, tolerance and equal rights for men and women.
Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser said: "Integration is crucial for the future of our country. Rapidly and successfully integrating people who have come to Germany into our society is of vital importance not only for the people who have come here but for our society as a whole. In the interest of every person in our country, it is important for us to impart our values and our language from the outset.
Through the new ordinance that was adopted today, we will be able to focus more on individual learning needs and individual progress. We are tailoring the courses to make them more effective. By doing so, we hope to accelerate integration processes further. We also agreed in the Federal Government to ensure funding for the courses while the government is operating on a tentative budget, such that financing for integration courses will remain secure."
The amended Ordinance on Integration Courses which the Cabinet adopted today will help to make the integration course system more efficient and more effective. The types of courses included in the integration course will be tailored to individual learning needs through more compact course offerings that take greater account of participants’ educational background and focus on different learning speeds (slower, average or faster). Participants are assigned to courses through a placement test that also indicates which participants can be placed in a higher course level due to existing language skills and can therefore complete the course more quickly. This will help to make the courses more efficient overall, which will in turn speed up processes of integration into German society.
The option of repeating a language class will only be provided for certain types of courses such as literacy classes. Further language learning is possible. This includes job-related language courses and independent study formats. Various other measures will also help to reduce bureaucratic obstacles and make the course system more cost-effective. These changes will make the integration course system fit for the future and will equip it to handle sustained high numbers of people entering Germany.
Since 2022, the number of participants in integration courses has been rising steadily, with more than 300,000 people per year starting the courses. Following a record 363,000 participants in 2023 (compared to 340,000 in 2022), more than 325,000 people have already begun the integration course this year (as at 24 November 2024).
In its 2024 report "State of Immigrant Integration – Germany", the OECD reported that more than half of working-age adult immigrants have taken part in a language course, one of the highest levels of participation in any OECD country.
