Background:

The Council of Europe highlights that migrant integration goes beyond just learning the majority language of the host country. Effective mechanisms should be implemented to help migrants reconfigure all their language skills. European education systems already accommodate linguistic diversity, reflecting the presence of various languages, including those from third countries. Multilingualism, as emphasized by the Council of Europe, is crucial for fostering linguistic tolerance and intercultural education, serving as a tool for integration.

In this context, EMN Italy has launched an ad hoc query that aims to examine Member States' policies on promoting linguistic skills among young third-country nationals or students with migratory backgrounds. 

Respondents:

23 EMN Member and Observer Countries answered this ad hoc query (including BE)

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• 14 EMN Member and Observer Countries (AT, BE (French Community), BG, EE, FI, FR, DE, LU, PL, RS, SK, SI, ES, SE) answered positively to the question of whether they have implemented measures to maintain the mother tongue of students with a migratory background. HR indicated that it only has such measures for students who are members of the Ukrainian national minority.
   
• While all of these countries indicated to have such measures in primary and secondary school, six of them (BE (French Community), EE, DE, PL, RS, SE) do not have them in preschool yet. In EE, for example, learning a native mother tongue can be chosen as an optional subject in primary and secondary school. BE and FR mentioned that they provide programmes in cooperation with partner countries to broaden language knowledge of their students.
   
• Only 9 of these countries (AT, BE (French Community), EE, FI, DE, LU, RS, SI, ES) indicated to have specific economic resources or funding to finance these measures. For example, in SI, the Ministry has granted € 45 per learner in 2023, of which € 15 is retained by the school and € 30 is available to the teacher. The teacher's expenses and/or salary are paid by the country of origin, associations, parents, or the teacher may be a volunteer.

For more information, please read the compilation of responses attached above.

You can also read the 2023 edition of "Key data on teaching languages at school in Europe" published by the European Commission.