The new holiday programs of the Bavarian Youth Council (BJR) should also benefit Ukrainian children and young people. In addition to lessons at regular schools, German classes, pedagogical welcome groups and online lessons at schools in Ukraine, these offers are the fifth pillar intended to make it easier for refugees to arrive in Bavaria, said Minister of Education Michael Piazolo (Free Voters) when presenting the program on Monday in Munich. The BJR is to coordinate the leisure-time educational offer for holiday care for children and young people in classes one to ten in the Easter, Whitsun and summer holidays for the third time on behalf of the Ministry of Education.
More than 90,000 refugees from Ukraine have currently arrived in Bavaria, almost half of them are children and young people, said the minister. More than 8,000 have already started at Bavarian schools. Piazolo emphasized that the holiday offer is also expressly aimed at those who are not yet in school. BJR youth workers are in the facilities where refugees are housed to present the programs.
After the corona pandemic, it was important for everyone to “meet and feel each other again,” said BJR President Matthias Fack. The offers, which are organized by free and public bodies in addition to the already planned holiday offers of association and municipal youth work, are intended on the one hand to compensate for learning deficits and on the other hand to strengthen the social skills of young people. According to the BJR, around 400 providers in Bavaria took part with around 2,000 groups last year, creating additional places for around 24,000 children and young people.