The University of Bremen is hosting a project for school students with migrant backgrounds. An evaluation report entitled “On Campus Intercultural Support for School Students” confirms that it is already a great success. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

Since the project was started in 2006, every week some 200 school students have been coming to the University, where they receive help to raise their levels of achievement. Working in small groups supervised by trainee teachers, they make use of this opportunity to improve their performance in those subjects where they need it most. The objective is to help them cope with learning in a language which is not their native tongue.

The evaluation report underlines that the project is a success on several levels. For example, the participants were able to improve their school grades across the board. Many of them even succeeded in moving up to a higher school form. The trainee teachers first have to attend a seminar that prepares them for their tasks as coaches and group leaders. This, together with the subsequent practical experience, teaches them how to handle the linguistic-cultural diversity they will one day encounter in schools.

The parents also have a high opinion of the project. They are grateful for the stimulating learning environment that helps motivate their children to learn, and maybe one day to take up academic studies. This is also a gain for the University of Bremen: it presents an opportunity to recruit students from the group of Bremen children and youngsters who, due to their socio-economic and non-German-speaking family backgrounds, are still under-represented in the student body. In the meantime, some of the youngsters targeted by the project have indeed become students of the University. Some of them are now even working in the project themselves – this time as student coaches.

Further information can be obtained from:

Universität Bremen
Bremer Förderprojekt für Schülerinnen und Schüler mit Migrationshintergrund
Katja Baginski (Project Coordinator)
Phone: +49 421 218-69121
e-mail: baginskiprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de