Integration

Education is the key to successful integration of children and young people with a migration background into our society. This poses special challenges for schools – especially in view of the large number of refugees. In a statement on the integration of young refugees through education, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs identifies rapid language acquisition, the teaching of democratic core values, and the commencement and successful completion of vocational training or higher education as key challenges.

Parents and teachers play a particularly important role in the integration of children and young people with a migration background

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) and organizations representing people with a migration background have agreed on concrete measures a joint declaration on educational and upbringing partnerships between schools and parents. These measures aim to promote and implement such partnerships in schools.

In the declaration „Integration as an Opportunity - Together for Greater Equity", recommendations and commitments were made to improve integration and to foster the academic success of children and young people with a migration background by enhancing parental involvement.

The federal states regularly report on their measures to implement the joint declaration during the annual meetings of the KMK with representatives of organizations of people with a migration background. The most up-to-date overview of the measures taken by the federal states can be found here.

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) has addressed the specific requirements placed on teachers due to interculturality in the classroom through the "Standards for Teacher Edecation: Educational Sciences" (Resolution of the KMK of 16 December 2004 as amended on 12 June 2014). Under Competence 4, it states: “Teachers are familiar with the social and cultural living conditions of students and, within the framework of the school, influence their individual development.”

Topics such as migration, integration, and diversity are incorporated into teaching as cross-cutting themes. In addition, the federal states offer initial and continuing training programs for teachers on intercultural competence and dealing with diversity. In October 2015, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK), migrant organizations, and educational media publishers adopted the joint declaration “Representation of Cultural Diversity, Integration, and Migration in Educational Media.” (Link) This declaration expresses, among other things, the commitment of all partners involved to ensure that the complex diversity in German schools is appropriately and non-discriminatorily reflected in educational media.