Education as the Key to Integration: Only a Realistic Refugee Policy Will Prove Successful

Education in the form of language skills and qualifications is the key to the integration of refugees into the German labour market, and thus into society. It can only be achieved if politicians make realistic assumptions about the education and qualification level of refugees. The refugees currently arriving in Germany do not have a broad enough range of skills to meet future demand for skilled workers arising from demographic changes. As for refugee children, the top priority should be to distribute them as widely as possible across schools and ensure that they can swiftly participate in normal classes. If the integration of refugee children through education succeeds, it may partly resolve the demographic problem in the next generation.