"Deutsch-Bon" - A pilot project of the city of Bern

The integration plan of the City of Bern for the years 2018 to 2021 includes the support of foreign speakers in attending German courses. In the course of this, the city of Bern is currently launching a pilot project to promote language acquisition as an important pillar of integration policy. The project provides for the distribution of 500 German vouchers of CHF 400 each, which will be put out to public tender and drawn by lot among interested foreign speakers.

Language skills in the respective national language are of great importance for many areas of life, be it for professional advancement, for social integration in the environment or for participation in social processes. Appropriate German language skills are also a central criterion of the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act introduced in 2019 for obtaining settlement and residence permits or for applying for a Swiss passport. With the pilot project "Deutsch-Bon", the City of Bern wants to make its contribution to these changed requirements in the area of German language skills and support its residents in learning German in the form of a voucher.

All persons who meet the criteria are entitled to receive a voucher. This includes all adult and foreign-language residents of the city of Bern who are entitled to a premium reduction from the health insurance fund. The last criterion serves to ensure that only low-income persons can benefit from the project. Those who are already supported in learning German by another institution such as the social welfare office, the RAV or the AHV-IV pension office are excluded from the voucher distribution. Those who receive a voucher can redeem it for a group course at selected language schools in the city of Bern. At the "German Fair" in November, interested parties also have the opportunity to get to know the individual language schools and what they have to offer.

The ILS-Bern is delighted to be involved in the project and make its contribution to the linguistic integration of foreign speakers. Our school will be represented at the "German Fair" with exciting attractions and will advise interested parties. For over 10 years, we have been helping people from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds to learn foreign languages. Our philosophy: learning in a relaxed and personal atmosphere with an individual focus in small groups. In our courses, we support the participants with maximum commitment and always try to make everyday course life as varied and exciting as possible. This includes lots of fun and games in class as well as our extracurricular activities in the city of Bern.

We are happy to contribute our many years of experience to the project and hope to soon be able to participate in similar support programmes in Basel and Solothurn.

You can find out more about the City of Bern's pilot project here.