Immigrants have been given the opportunity to teach in German schools
The project authors note that their main goal is to attract as many qualified workers from among refugees as possible. As "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, in this innovative way they hope to solve the problem of a shortage of specialists in this segment.
Over the course of a year and a half, 26 teachers underwent special training at the University of Potsdam. Five days a week, they studied German, took a course in didactics, and then attended practical classes.
As the project authors note, becoming a participant is not easy. The training program is quite difficult and not everyone can complete it. For example, last year, 700 people submitted applications to participate in the program, but only 54 were admitted. Preference was given to those who had an academic degree and work experience.
A good example is one of the project participants – Alesar Saed, a refugee from Syria. Before moving to Germany, she taught mathematics in high school for 6 years. Now she works as a math teacher at an elementary school in Potsdam. Alesar teaches third-graders in the presence of a German language teacher. Despite the fact that the woman has a 9-month-old daughter, she comes to work every day.
The project leader talks about how Syrian teachers help at a school where a third of the students come from Bosnia, Ghana, Kenya, Palestine, Syria, or the Czech Republic. For example, one of the participants in this program acts as a translator for those parents of students who only know Arabic, substitutes for sick teachers, and supervises students. At the same time, such practice is more the exception than the rule, since in most cases foreign teachers are not left alone with students, as this is "an unsafe solution."
For many immigrants, participation in the program is an opportunity to integrate and improve their quality of life, as they get a chance to earn a stable income and move out of a dormitory. In addition, society begins to perceive them not as refugees, but as people with valuable knowledge.
Such teachers are indeed important: according to forecasts, in Brandenburg alone, within five years, 293,000 children and adolescents with foreign roots will attend schools. Moreover, there is an acute shortage of teachers throughout the country. According to estimates, by 2025, primary schools will be short of 35,000 teachers. The project has high potential: 11,000 teachers applied for asylum in 2016.
It is also noted that such a project currently exists only in Brandenburg. Other federal states are in no hurry to follow this example.