Migrant education and employment

Migrant education 

There are now more than 50 million people in Europe living in a country other than the one in which they were born. Successful integration of migrants is a crucial element in promoting social cohesion: language education, in particular the mastering of the language of the host country, has a major role to play in support of the introduction and acceptance of young and adult migrants into education systems, the labour market and society at large. At the same time, the safeguard of migrants’ own languages of origin and their cultural values is an essential factor for harmonious integration. 

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Employment – language for professional purposes

In addition to the domains of schooling and life in the community, migrant and other learners are likely to need language for professional purposes. Language education for employment may take place in an educational setting – for example, in vocational schools – or in the work place. Languages are becoming more and more important for companies – from small businesses to multinationals – and they value, expect and also foster the language skills of their employees.

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How the work of the Council of Europe contributes to migrant education 

The Council of Europe has launched a project dedicated to the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants (LIAM). The website gives access to a very wide range of resources related to the theme. This provides a comprehensive fact sheet and other resources ‘to support member states in their efforts to respond to the challenges posed by unprecedented migration flows’. A specific website for adult refugees is also available within the framework of the LIAM project which includes a toolkit comprising 57 tools. The Council of Europe has also produced a qualifications passport for refugees as an aid to integration into education and employment. 

How ECML projects contribute to migrant education and language for employment 

A number of ECML past and current projects are devoted to helping migrants to achieve successful integration in schools and in the workplace. These include:

• The Language for Work project – full title ‘A European learning network for professionals supporting work‐related second language development’
  This project has developed a network for professionals dealing with language training for work; its aims are to develop a series of tools for professional development and among these is a “quick guide” to support companies in the linguistic integration of adult migrants. 
• A collaborative community approach to migrant education
  A virtual open course for educators. The resources offer innovative ways to enhance young migrants' education by developing links between schools, the home and local partners in education. This educational joint venture develops the learners' skills in the language of schooling as well their plurilingual competences.

Migrant education and employment and other thematic areas

• Languages of schooling
  Projects in this thematic area address the issue of teaching the language of the school to classes with diverse language backgrounds. These include ‘Teaching the language of schooling in the context of diversity’ (Maledive) 
   
• Plurilingual and intercultural education
  Projects are concerned issues of developing ways for migrants to learn or keep up their language of origin and develop their plurilingual repertoire and to foster intercultural education. One such project is Content based teaching plurilingual/cultural awareness (CONBAT+) which presents an innovative way of managing diversity in the classroom by combining plurilingual and pluricultural approaches with content-based instruction.