ÖGB ad BM Raab: Check own measures instead of demanding performance obligations and assuming unwillingness of job seekers

2023-08-24 12:20:47

Where the AMS organizes the German courses, they work well

Vienna (OTS) – Instead of thinking aloud about the obligation to perform German courses for immigrants, “it would make more sense to first check the effectiveness of your own measures”, ÖGB labor market expert Sylvia Ledwinka reacts to Federal Minister Raab’s statements on the integration report. The minister herself has been responsible for integration for years and should know where the problems lie.

The ÖGB could provide a starting point: “One reason why the German courses are not effective enough is to look for who is responsible for them. In Austria it is the integration fund. An institution that the ÖVP has been using for many years to present its integration successes. The problem is that there are hardly any!” says Ledwinka. “What the integration fund has not yet managed to do is to provide those people who come to Austria with a meaningful and structured range of course measures,” emphasizes the trade unionist.

It starts with how people access educational opportunities in the first place. There is one office in each federal state, usually in the state capital, where those affected have to register for the courses in person. Ledwinka points out that “it is therefore also understandable that many people want to live in Vienna for this reason. Because how do you get from the Waldviertel or East Styria to your courses in the provincial capital – without money!”

“Where the courses work well, on the other hand, is wherever the AMS organizes them,” says the ÖGB labor market expert. “Apparently it worked so well that a few years ago the AMS took five million in funding and gave it to the integration fund,” said Ledwinka, calling on the minister to “review some of her measures and leave the German courses to the organization that it can. Namely the AMS.”