It is the largest school in Norway, with about 2, students, and a big part of them belong to the introduction program for newly arrived refugees. In addition, they offer online Norwegian language courses with frequent one-to-one guidance, elementary school for adult refugees and immigrants, and lower secondary school for young adults and adults. Our work with integration comes from the government, who is leading a policy that states the need of migrants and refugees to be integrated in the labour market and the society, without losing their cultural or ethnic identity.
Working at Oslo Rosenhof Adult Centre gives me and my colleagues the opportunity to help migrants to get a job, which I think is central for their integration. It is hard to get a long-term position with little or no school background. There are many participants at school, where they learn about social rules, but until they get a job, they do not know what it really is. Our challenge is to do this the best way, and family life is also a field that is important for integration, complementary to the integration of children in school.
Voluntary work and follow-up of participants will be central for a successful integration. We have about 2, participants per course, who come to learn Norwegian. However, language is not everything; thus, we also provide different courses with a focus on working life that enable immigrants to get jobs while they are at school. Therefore, they will have the opportunity to earn money and be ready once the introductory program is over.
We also provide courses that prepare participants for high school and we are starting with a two-year high school program. These offers allow participants to graduate and receive economic support from the state while they are in the introductory program, and suit the most those who already have some school background in their home country. On the other hand, with FIER, we have the opportunity to give those who have little or no school background and, therefore, a difficulty to get integrated in the labour market a chance to get a job.
However, I would also like to highlight the importance of cooperation with other stakeholders, like, for example, program advisors in the municipality. Participants need a close monitoring by several persons in the beginning to succeed, and we have to work together.
