Counselling and further education for migrants and refugees with previous pedagogical knowledge: This is what the "Contact Studies - Recognition and Educational Competence in the Migration Society" project at the Centre for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies (CMC) at the University of Oldenburg has been offering since 2004. The aim is to qualify participants for vocational training or studies in Germany. This programme is now undergoing essential further development - the university and its project partners will receive around 3.5 million euros for this until 2028.
"For years, the university has successfully made an important contribution to promoting equal opportunities and participation with the 'Contact Studies' programme: we enable people of different nationalities to access education in line with their qualifications and thus participate in our country, which is in urgent need of skilled workers," explains Prof Dr Andrea Strübind, Vice President for Learning and Teaching. In addition, the project is focussing on a target group that plays a key role in promoting the social participation of other migrants and refugees.
The overall project comprises five components. The central element is the university certificate training programme "Contact Studies", which has been offered since 2004 and was initially only offered in Hanover and now also takes place in Bremen and Frankfurt am Main. The ten-month programme is aimed at migrants and refugees with a pedagogical educational and career orientation.
As a second component, a newly established supplementary programme entitled "Fundamentals of the welfare state, social and family law" is being launched for the first time this year. It takes place in a blended learning format (classroom teaching combined with phases of online learning) and primarily imparts legal knowledge. This supplementary further education programme is intended to make it easier for people who have already obtained a degree in education in their country of origin to obtain state recognition in Germany so that they can take up a job that corresponds to their qualification.
The third project objective is to establish central advice centres for qualified persons. In the long term, a model state centre for "education and counselling for highly qualified migrants with a pedagogical educational orientation" is to be established in the Lower Saxony/Bremen region, with a further centre planned for the Rhine-Main area. "We want to close a major gap in the advisory services and create reliable structures so that recognition of qualifications or further education can take place without any loss of time," emphasises project manager Prof. Dr Ayça Polat, university lecturer for social education in the migration society and head of the Center for Migration, Education and Cultural Studies (CMC) at the University of Oldenburg.
The fourth part of the project consists of a comprehensive evaluation of the further education programme. To this end, 30 interviews are planned with graduates who have taken part in the contact study programme since 2004. The aim is to examine the long-term impact of the further education programme on the participants' careers. "Based on the results, the continuing education programme will be fundamentally reviewed after more than 20 years of existence and the concept will be adapted if necessary," explains Polat.
The fifth focus of the project is to strengthen networking between the participating universities and ministries, authorities, recognition and advice centres and migrant organisations. Regular meetings and a symposium are planned for this purpose.
The project is co-financed by the European Union from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and receives funding from the "Profi plus" programme of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). Central co-operation partners include Goethe University Frankfurt, KUBI Gesellschaft für Kultur und Bildung gGmbH, kargah e.V. in Hanover and effect gGmbH in Bremen. The DAAD "Profi plus" programme, which funds the project, also supports other projects at German universities that promote the professional qualification of international academics with foreign university degrees - for example by providing additional expertise for the German labour market.
