StartWien College presented as “Best Practice” in Prague

We look beyond our own horizons – and beyond national borders to Prague!

“Attention, Support, Potential. Accessibility of Secondary Education for Young People with Migrant Backgrounds – Stakeholders and Challenges” is the name of a conference in Prague at which our project manager Barbara Peschke presented the project StartWien College on March 20th as a best practice example from Vienna.

The conference was organized by META, a Czech organization that offers a one-year preparatory course for young immigrants wishing to enter higher education. In her presentation, Barbara Peschke explained – among others, to representatives of the Czech education system – how the StartWien College program closes the gap in Vienna's education system and, through close cooperation with counseling centers, schools, training companies, the Public Employment Service, and other institutions in Vienna, safeguards the educational opportunities of young immigrants.

The highlight was a short film featuring an interview by the Czech organizers with two StartWien College graduates, Sima from Afghanistan and Amila from Bosnia, who are now attending the HTL Ottakring. In it, the two share – in some very personal and touching ways – their consistently positive experiences at StartWien College!