OCG Cares

The aim of this project is access to IT for all to be able to become part of the digital society. In this case through refugees learning German, improving their IT skills and gaining internationally recognised certificates.
Since February 2016, weekly 2-hour-courses for two groups have taken place at the OCG office in Vienna. The refugees are trained by ECDL testers who have volunteered for this task. Students are provided with free learning material and encouraged to practice whenever possible. The ECDL Computer Essentials, Online Essentials, Word Processing and Spreadsheets modules are taught.
The response to the OCG Cares project was very positive. The refugees are making good progress both in IT skills and German. The project is intended to work as a multiplier for the future. ECDL certificates are well-known and respected standards in the business world. OCG Cares empowers refugees and helps them integrate in society, resulting in a win-win situation for society and migrants.
It is important to remain flexible to meet the demands of the candidates. All of the refugees who we got to know during the project have impressed us with their enthusiasm and engagement. They are very proud to have been selected, and are eager to gain the certificates. Their language skills (often more than 3 languages) and their learning speed are amazing.
The OCG Cares project is funded by the Austrian Computer Society as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme (skills card, infrastructure, administrative staff etc.). The trainers for this project are volunteers and receive no remuneration. The publishing houses Ikon and Herdt supply learning material free of charge.

Context: In autumn 2015, the Austrian Computer Society (OCG) realised that the refugee crisis demanded quick and un-bureaucratic action to help refugees and asylum seekers. Therefore, it launched the project, ‘OCG Cares’, aiming at providing those who had to leave their homes without ICT and language skills. After a strategic meeting of all stakeholders in December 2015, 22 refugees started their crossover courses in IT & German, with the aim to prepare for the ECDL Base certification tests by summer.
In view of the present European situation regarding the refugee crisis, the project falls very much in line with the European digital literacy initiative: integration of the socially disadvantaged and bridging the gap between the digitally literate and the digitally illiterate.
The objective of the OCG Cares project is to empower refugees to facilitate their integration into the labour market, i.e. integration into society by upgrading their ICT and language skills.
There was a great demand for a continuation of the courses, so the trainers offered to carry on in autumn 2016. Again, two groups were organised (beginners and advanced beginners) and they work together to enhance their skills and pass the tests.
Generally, it is difficult for refugees to find ways to enhance their skills. The OCG Cares project gives them the chance to study for an internationally approved certificate of competence, and to improve their ICT-skills. Besides this, the course language is German, so their language skills get better at the same time. Contact was established with various refugee NGOs in Vienna that are offering German courses (E.g. Flüchtlingsprojekt Ute Bock, INSEL, Akuthilfe Hietzing). The refugees were also invited to take assessment tests (using the Sophia Testing System by OCG) to get to know more about their true level of IT skills.

Stakeholders involved: Publishing houses Ikon and Herdt
ECDL4refugees
Welcome.TU.code

Key learning points: NEI.

Evaluation: No

Information sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrvWv6ozhrI&feature=emb_title

Read the full analysis: https://www.ocg.at/en/ocg-cares