For the now around 25,000 pupils from the Ukraine at Bavarian schools, there will be tailor-made teaching offers in the coming school year – depending on age and previous knowledge. This was announced by Minister of Education Michael Piazolo (free voters) on Monday in Munich.
The core are so-called bridging classes, which are to be set up at all types of secondary schools as a further development of the previous “welcome groups”. According to the Ministry of Education, the bridge classes are created from the fifth to the ninth grade. Learning the German language should be the focus there, with at least ten hours of German per week.
In grades one to four, the children from the Ukraine take part in regular primary school lessons. This regular instruction is supplemented by additional language courses. “Regardless of the level of German language skills and regardless of whether you will soon return to your Ukrainian homeland or stay in Bavaria – we will set up suitable offers for everyone who is looking for help from us in the coming school year,” said Piazolo. “The goal is that the Ukrainian schoolchildren take part in regular classes in the future and are given talent-based support.”
But this requires knowledge of German, “which many of them will first have to build up or expand on in the coming school year”. According to the Ministry of Education, children and young people from Ukraine who already have a good knowledge of German should be able to take part in regular classes directly.
According to the ministry, schooling is compulsory for schoolchildren after 90 days in Bavaria. However, older students who are no longer required to go to school can also take part in further courses.