Berlin EdTechs Pioneering a New Approach to Integration

BERLIN, February 7, 2022 – Kiron, Lingoda & LeWagon are joining forces to spearhead a new approach to labor market integration with a groundbreaking program in tech. People who have migrated to Germany can enroll in a 12 month full-time program in Berlin, with its first cohort starting in April, which will not only equip them with fluent German, but with professional training in coding, and a cutting-edge diversity & inclusion course which will set them up for professional and personal success. This course, called the Speak and Code Academy, which is valued at €35,000, can be accessed for free if registered at the German federal unemployment agency, Agentur für Arbeit.

What makes this course unique and a first in Germany is that it brings together language learning, professional training and integration courses synchronously. Normally, newcomers to Germany must acquire a certain level of German before they can proceed with professional training via the job center, which vastly slows down their integration into the job market. This program is a game changer in that regard, and allows newcomers to leap over a number of challenging bureaucratic hurdles, hit the ground running and launch their careers.

The three leading organizations decided to get together to foster the increasing need for integration courses for migrants in Germany. “The labor market in Germany is changing rapidly and significantly, with a current shortage of around 400,000 people. We are happy to help people access it with professional training and support they need. We are glad Lingoda is part of this crucial step in people’s lives,” said Felix Wunderlich, Co-Founder of Lingoda, the leading online language school in Europe.

The course will take place on and offline and will begin with Kiron’s diversity and inclusion course, Lingoda‘s language course and LeWagon‘s first-class coding bootcamp happening in parallel. This course ensures that it will prepare participants to take on any junior tech role on the labor market, with an average starting salary of over €44,000, according to Le Wagon’s research data.  Rhett Büttrich, Le Wagon’s General Manager says, “We have been shaping the course content, our learning platform, and our career services to an extraordinary extent over the past eight years. After this incredible teamwork and value-driven approach to take tech education to the next level, the cooperation with Lingoda and Kiron is the next step. We are ready to change people’s professional future for the better, and we will start with the ones who need it most.”

“The feeling of belonging, and being a part of a new community in a new country is very important. The integration program Kiron provides aims at making people feel at home, where they are safe and feel important. Newcomers to Germany deserve the best possible start.” said Dr. Tobias Ernst from Kiron, an EdTech NGO that came to prominence in 2015 during the refugee crisis, and has since served over fifty thousand students worldwide.

To talk in-depth about this initiative, Rhett Büttrich is available for interviews.(rhett.buettrich@lewagon.org)
You can see the course syllabus for the Speak and Code Academy here.

ABOUT LINGODA
Lingoda is one of the leading online language schools. Founded in Berlin, Germany in 2013, we provide convenient and accessible online language courses in German, English, Business English, Spanish and French to over 80,000 students worldwide. Our private and small group classes are taught by over 1,500 qualified, native-speaking teachers. With almost 550,000 classes available per year and accessible 24/7, our mission is to empower even the busiest people to master a language and unlock their potential — at any time, from anywhere.

We believe in a communicative approach to language learning: mastering a language means being able to speak it with confidence. Our CEFR-focused learning materials are designed by linguistic experts and focus on meaningful topics that are applicable to our students’ interests, careers and everyday lives. Thanks to our extensive rotating roster of teachers and our small group classes, students are exposed to a variety of regional accents and expressions within the same language and have the time and space to practice speaking in every lesson.

Our diverse team includes over 200 international professionals from 30 countries speaking 40 languages. In 2021, Crunchbase listed Lingoda among the top 3 language learning companies globally. We have a score of 4.5 on Trustpilot and 75% of our reviews are rated as ‘excellent’ because we offer a high-quality and authentic learning experience that helps students achieve their learning goals and transform their lives. Visit www.lingoda.com for additional information.

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Susanne Börensen
International PR Manager
susanne.boerensen@lingoda.com
press@lingoda.com

ABOUT LE WAGON
Le Wagon is one of the world’s most acclaimed coding schools teaching web development and data science through immersive bootcamps. Our cutting-edge curriculum and world-class teachers give students all the skills and tools needed to kick-start their tech career, land a job as engineers or product managers, become freelancers or launch their own startup.

Created in 2013 by Boris Paillard, Romain Paillard and Sébastien Saunier, Le Wagon is now a team of 100+ people worldwide, working to make an impact on the future of education. With a huge network of corporate partners and a strong alumni community, Le Wagon has become a key stakeholder in local tech communities worldwide.


MEDIA INQUIRIES
Wiebke Goldhorn
Public Affairs Manager Germany
wiebke@lewagon.org

ABOUT KIRON

As an edtech nonprofit, our mission at Kiron is to provide a virtual home for learning, personal growth, and collective impact. Founded in Berlin in 2015, in response to the refugee crisis, and with offices in Beirut and Amman, we offer free courses online to enable people to upskill or retrain and gain a foothold in the job market. We believe that education can change lives, transform communities, and build bridges. That’s why we created the online learning platform Kiron Campus, so we can ensure that our students receive free access to high-quality education for academic, professional, and personal growth. Since 2015, more than 50,000 students have passed through Kiron Campus’ virtual doors. Our campus is adapted to support the needs of our learners with low bandwidth access, mobile-first features, and has a virtual community hub to create a supportive learning network. Through our model of collective impact, we continue to expand our impact and student base by working with a network of other NGOs and partners to run local and blended learning programs that promote social mobility and integration such as professional mentorships, vocational training, and language learning. Visit www.kiron.ngo to learn more about us.

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Anne Parsons
Head of Communications
anne.parsons@kiron.ngo