Free Croatian language courses for Ukrainian refugees

In the town of Križevci, in cooperation with the adult education institution Callidus, the DOBRO DOBRIM DoDo association organized a Croatian language course for refugees from Ukraine under temporary protection in Croatia at the beginning of February 2024. The free-of-charge course is conducted at levels A1 – A2 and A2 – B1. The DOBRO DOBRIM association provided all logistical and material needs for the smooth running of the course. The total number of course participants is 160 people, who are divided into 8 groups of 15-20 people. The age structure is from 17 to 70 years. The education will take place from February to the end of 2024. The total number of hours for one group is 70. For the enrollment of students at levels A2, B1, a mandatory condition was to check the level of knowledge of the participants and assess their readiness to master the material. Classes were organized both in the morning and in the evening, taking into account the wishes of the participants. At the end of education for each group, final exams were organized to analyze the level of language knowledge. In the town of Križevci, in cooperation with the adult education institution Callidus, the DOBRO DOBRIM (DoDo) association organized a Croatian language course for refugees from Ukraine under temporary protection in Croatia at the beginning of February 2024. The free course is conducted at levels A1–A2 and A2–B1. The DOBRO DOBRIM association provided all logistical and material support for the smooth running of the course. The total number of course participants is 160 people, who are divided into eight groups of 15–20 people. The age structure of participants ranges from 17 to 70 years. The education program will take place from February to the end of 2024. The total number of hours for each group is 70. For the enrollment of students at levels A2 and B1, a mandatory condition was to assess the level of knowledge of the participants and evaluate their readiness to master the material. Classes were organized both in the morning and in the evening, taking into account the wishes of the participants. At the end of the course for each group, final exams were organized to analyze the level of language knowledge.

in the records of the Croatian Employment Service, there are currently 612 refugees from Ukraine in the status of temporary protection, and since the introduction of this status, 968 persons have been employed through the mediation of the Service. Among the people who came to Croatia, about 70% are highly educated. There are also numerous medical doctors, but it is publicly not known whether anyone is employed in the profession so far, although there are those who have started the process of having their diploma recognized, as a first step. Some doctors perform lower-skilled jobs or work as pedagogues and/or psychologists, while some nurses work as cleaners or carers. Although Croatia has a burning problem of a lack of medical staff, highly educated people refuges cannot find a suitable job because they do not know the Croatian language at the B2 level. Furthermore, the problem is also the high costs of the qualification recognition procedure, for court interpreters and translations of the necessary documentation.

In the last 6 months, Croatia has become a temporary or permanent home for 20,000 Ukrainians who fled the war. The association Svoja, which brings together Ukrainians in Croatia, was presented in Zagreb. It has only been active for a few months and so far has around 50 members. A gathering was organized in the cultural centre in Dubrava, in Eastern part of City of Zagreb. Most of the refuges came to Zagreb in April 2022. Some of them participated in the language course organized by Svoja, and found jobs in Zagreb, but often not in their profession. Therefore, they want to return to their professions. This is exactly what the newly conceived association Svoja should help them with. The association plans to finance its activities from donations, and until then its members are volunteering. Their purpose is to help Ukrainians in finding a job, learning the language and integrating into society. Most of the refuges are already halfway to that goal.

The Croatian language school for Ukrainian refugees has been organized in the City of Samobor. For most of them, it was difficult at the beginning, but they noticed similarities with the Ukrainian language and with the adequate aid after some weeks of learning they could understand about 40% of Croatian. At the beginning they learned some basic greeting phrases and everyday communication. This support and collection of humanitarian aid have been organized by the local primary school, local Red Cross and local trade union organisation.

Thanks to the pilot project of Croatian Caritas and Catholic relief service (CRS) textbooks and workbooks for learning the Croatian language were provided for Ukrainians who found their new home in the city of Velika Gorica. Croatian language courses for Ukrainians who have sought temporary protection and safety in Velika Gorica take place three times a week at the People's Open University, and are led by Dr. sc. Dariya Pavlešen, senior lecturer for the Ukrainian language from the Department of Ukrainian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. About forty people are currently taking the course, some of whom come from Novi Zagreb.

The Economic and Social Council (ESC) on 21 March 2022, gave full support to the Government's efforts in activities related to the reception, care and integration of Ukrainian refugees into Croatian society and the labor market, and a stronger involvement of social partners at the county level was agreed. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Davor Bozinovic, in a statement to journalists after a meeting with representatives of trade unions and employers, said that the ESC expressed full solidarity and concern for the Ukrainian people, who in these moments of war are suffering the greatest consequences of devastating Russian aggression. The ESC supports the activities and efforts of the Government of Croatia in aiding, reception, care and integration, of Ukrainian refugees into Croatian society. Based on the EU Directive on temporary protection, this also implies support for inclusion in the Croatian labour market and in the education system and support for the learning of Croatia language, while respecting their choice. Ukrainian refugees have guaranteed equal rights in the labour market. The social partners have agreed that all of them from their area of jurisdiction and activities will ensure the same rights and opportunities as Croatian workers have for the Ukrainian refugees. Similar tripartite meetings of social partners on this topic will be held in the future, apart from at the state level, also at the county level, given that most of the operational work - especially when it comes to care, education, finding jobs on the labour market - will take place precisely at the local level. Social partners are fully aware that the issue of accepting refugees from Ukraine is an extraordinary issue that additionally encourages the exchange of experiences and corrections if necessary, in order to make the engagement as effective as possible.