Prague, March 3 (CTK) – The Czech Education Ministry is preparing a tender for organising courses in which foreigners with Czech asylum would be educated in the areas of culture and democracy as a step to facilitate their integration in local society, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said on Thursday.
The courses would consist of 20 lessons. They are to follow up the language courses which the new asylum holders undergo to learn Czech, Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said during the question time in the Chamber of Deputies.
The planned courses will aim to raise and develop the immigrants’ democratic awareness and positions, the observance of human rights and freedoms, help them understand the role of the order, rules and laws for the life of society, and become responsible members of the society, Sobotka said.
By preparing the tender, the Education Ministry fulfils the resolution on the state integration programme that the cabinet approved last November.
“It is an instrument of help to the people, who were granted international protection, in the initial phase of their lives in the Czech Republic,” Sobotka said, referring to the resolution.
“It therefore applies to their learning of the [Czech] language, entry onto the labour market, housing and the education of children and adults,” Sobotka said.
If foreigners stay in the Czech Republic for a long time, the state cannot rely on their voluntary integration effort only. That is why the government is trying to have certain duties set for the immigrants in connection with their participation in the above courses, Sobotka said.
