Germans Favor Integration of Ukrainian Refugees through Education

A majority of Germans (58 percent) are in favor of taking immediate educational measures to integrate Ukrainian refugees. There is broad support for different measures for adults, such as the right and duty to attend government-funded German courses (74 percent) and issuing work permits to refugee teachers (66 percent). These are the findings of a representative survey of the German adult population conducted by the ifo Center for the Economics of Education between May and June 2022.

Most survey respondents agree with a speedy integration of Ukrainian schoolchildren into existing classes in primary (65 percent) and secondary (61 percent) schools; two-thirds (66 percent) are in favor of hiring more state-funded school staff to look after these children. But when it comes to compulsory preschool attendance for refugee children, opinion is divided (47 percent support it; 37 percent are against it).

This data can be compared with a representative survey from 2016, when many refugees came from Syria and elsewhere to Germany. The two data sets differ greatly in how participants assessed the level of education of the refugees arriving in Germany:  half of those recently surveyed (50 percent) assess it as high; in 2016, the figure was less than one-fourth (22 percent). A slim majority (52 percent) currently believe that the refugees will help alleviate Germany’s shortage of skilled workers – up from only one-third (33 percent) in 2016. Interestingly, however, the current sentiment toward measures to integrate refugees is similar to that in 2016.