The State Secretary for Participation and Integration of the Netherlands, Jurgen Nobel, has said that the government is looking into ways to improve the language skills of foreign nationals, specifically those who do not need to participate in the mandatory civic integration system.
Nobel presented a 12-page letter to the House of Representatives last week. In the letter, the need to improve language skills as a means of better integration was highlighted, Schengen.News reports.
Under the new integration plan, the Dutch government wants to keep the focus on the importance of language skills for successful integration into society.
In a press release, the government said that a large number of newcomers are dependent on social assistance, stressing that learning Dutch and finding a job is important to overcome this issue, I Am Expat Netherlands explains.
Additionally, the government noted that under the coalition agreement, employers need to take more responsibility for providing language training to migrant workers.
The coalition agreement stated that employers are to be given more responsibility for their workers’ language education. More details on improving the language skills of people who don’t have to integrate will be published in the first quarter.
New Rules to Promote Faster Integration of Foreigners in Netherlands
Speaking for Dutch News, a spokesperson for the Social Affairs Ministry said that the new efforts of the government would apply to those who are not required to go through the integration system but are in a vulnerable position.
The spokesperson further explained that this could be the case for nationals of Ukraine and labour migrants.
This could be Ukrainian nationals or labour migrants from both the EU and outside the bloc.
In addition to the above-mentioned, the Dutch authorities will also increase the budget for local authorities to help them improve language standards and help migrants with residence permits to find jobs faster through “starter jobs”.
As part of the new integration plan, other measures have also been included in the new integration plan. The Dutch government will establish an increased focus on the Dutch values, norms of openness, and freedom, according to Nobel.
As he explained, the government has included measures in the new plan to prevent forced marriages, violence against women, and genital mutilation.
Nobel emphasised that in order to ensure that the Netherlands continues to remain an open and free society for everyone, the approaches need to be strengthened, especially against harmful practices.
