The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, through the Rector, professor M.-A. Dimopoulos, and the Hellenic Ministry of Migration and Asylum, through Deputy Minister, Ms S. Voultepsi, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Monday, September 19, 2022, to implement actions and initiatives promoting language education of third-country nationals with migrant and refugee backgrounds as a prerequisite for their integration into the society and economy of the country. The Vice-Rector for Academic and Student Affairs, professor D. Karadimas, and the associate professor, Ms M. Iakovou, also participated in the meeting.
In this framework, NKUA, through the Departments of Philology, Early Childhood Education, and English Language and Literature, the Centre of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, and the Modern Greek Language Teaching Centre, assumes the responsibility to supply the Ministry of Migration and Asylum with expertise and human resources–acquired via the participation of the University in various programmes–for the language instruction of third-country nationals with migrant and refugee backgrounds. The Memorandum provides for:
(a) the development of a postgraduate programme to prepare specialists in teaching Greek as a second language on the one hand and the social and educational dimensions of the integration of adults and minors with migrant and refugee backgrounds on the other;
(b) the creation of language courses for third-country nationals with migrant and refugee backgrounds;
(c) the furnishing of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum with the scientific expertise required for the development of language education programmes for third-country nationals with migrant and refugee backgrounds;
(d) the launch of educational seminars to train the staff required for the language instruction of third-country nationals with migrant and refugee backgrounds; and
(e) the production of relevant educational material to supplement the integration processes, responding at the same time to the needs and the language level of third-country nationals with migrant and refugee backgrounds.
