At the end of the ReGES project, analyses by various researchers were summarized in a transfer report. In the following, some of the results presented there are presented as examples.
Refugee children significantly less likely to be cared for in daycare centers
The study surveyed 2,405 children aged at least four who had not yet started school at the time of the first survey and their parents. 79.2% of the children attended a daycare center. The attendance rate of the refugees surveyed thus lags significantly behind that of other groups of the same age. Attendance at a daycare center is considered sensible and important, especially for children with a refugee background. The families whose children did not attend a daycare center most often gave the reason that no childcare place was available. The problem situation of refugees goes beyond this, however, as some parents report a lack of information.
94.1% of the educators surveyed rated the integration of children with a refugee background in their facility as successful. However, this also means that 5.9% do not report successful integration.
German language as a key competence
As part of the study, 2,415 refugee young people between the ages of 14 and 16 were asked how they assessed their language skills in general (understanding, speaking, reading, writing) and with regard to specific applications. The collected data indicate clear differences in competence in everyday and educational language.
While the young people surveyed generally rate their skills as "rather good" or even "very good", the differentiated survey shows a much more complex picture: 93.0% can greet someone or introduce themselves, but only 41.1% can easily follow most TV shows. And finally, only 18.7% can read literature and non-fiction and 15.2% say they can write sophisticated texts.
The findings on language competence point very clearly to the need for language support measures.
Major challenges in the school careers of young refugees
The young people surveyed in the study provided information on their school attendance before, during and after their flight. The data show, among other things, that the school careers of the young people surveyed were interrupted for more than a year on average due to the flight and in the course of arriving in Germany. In their subsequent schooling in Germany, the young people are distributed across all the school types considered. However, secondary modern schools (Hauptschulen) and combined secondary modern schools (Haupt- und Realschulen) are attended more frequently, while secondary modern schools (Realschulen) and grammar schools (Gymnasien) are attended less frequently than would be expected if official data for all students in the federal states considered in ReGES were taken into account. Moreover, school enrollment in Germany often took place in lower grades that do not correspond to the age of the young people. This means that one has to keep an eye on possible accumulations of risks in the educational pathways of refugee youth.
In the meantime, a number of further results from the ReGES project have been published. An overview of the publications can be found here.
Improved data on the situation of refugees in the German education system
Within the framework of ReGES, refugee children and adolescents as well as their families were interviewed at several points in time (= survey waves). Parents and adolescents provided information on personal and refugee-specific characteristics as well as on their life and educational experiences in Germany. The refugees also had the opportunity to report on educational goals and future aspirations. Data was also collected from the educational professionals and full-time and volunteer workers in the communities and shared accommodations. Thus, the ReGES study was able to create a rich database on the situation of refugee children and adolescents in the German education system.
The Research Data Center of the Leibniz Institute for Educational Progress makes the data of the study "Refugees in the German Educational System (ReGES)" available to the scientific community as scientific-use files for empirical analyses at www.reges-data.de. The data portfolio is complemented by a comprehensive documentation and information service.