Mediterranean countries, 2018

m obilit Y - r el A ted i m P li C A tions o F C ovid - 19 F or r e C eiving Co U ntries 103

than students from other schools (Gore et al. 2021). Looking at other countries and regions, Maldonado and de Witte (2020) and Hanushek and Woessmann (2020) similarly find the pandemic-related effects were worse for disadvantaged students.

Less access to remote-learning technology . In addition to socioeconomic barriers and limited parental education and involvement, foreign-born students are less likely to have technology available at home, making remote learning more difficult. Across several OECD Mediterranean countries, a PISA-OECD “index of availability” shows, foreign-born children have less access to technology at home (figure 3.5).

And in an April 2020 survey in Turkey, although 93 percent of refugee children reported being enrolled in school, 31 percent reported not having access to online learning because they lacked the remote learning TV channel, internet access, or understanding of how to follow remote-learning programs (IFRC and TRC 2020). Similarly, a June 2021 needs assessment in Turkey shows that 45 percent of refugee respondents reported difficulty in gaining remote access to services because of a lack of digital tools such as computers, tablets, cell phones, and Wi-Fi service (UNHCR 2021). Furthermore, only 43 percent of respondents claimed to be able to use digital platforms such as Zoom or others easily or very easily, 36 percent claimed to be able to use these platforms with some or many difficulties, and 21 percent said they could not use them at all.

Figure 3.5 ICT availability at home for 15-year-old students in selected Mediterranean countries, 2018

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Index of availability 8

6

4

2

0

France Greece

Israel Italy Slovenia Spain Native-born Foreign-born

Source: organisation for economic Co-operation and development (oeCd) Programme for international student Assessment (PisA) 2018 database (https://www.oecd.org/pisa/data/2018database/). Note: the “native-born” group does not include second-generation immigrants. the results do not differ significantly when second-generation immigrants are included in the “native-born” group. the gold error bars indicate the standard error. the “index of availability” is a sum of how many of 10 specified information and communication technology (iCt) devices or connections the student has available at home. Foreign-born students with at least one native-born parent are also excluded from the analysis.

104 b U ilding resilient migr A tion s Y stems in t H e mediterr A ne A n region

Impacts on adult integration programs

A variety of integration courses for adult migrants and refugees have also been suspended or delivered only online. For many migrants, in particular recent arrivals, the near-global lockdown caused by COVID-19 meant a disruption to language courses they were receiving (OECD 2020b). Most countries were also forced to end other inperson integration courses as restrictions were imposed.

Recognizing that deferring classes altogether likely results in learning losses and potential dropouts, many countries turned to novel digital tools or ramped up existing offerings. Although online courses were somewhat successful—providing a flexible alternative to in-person classes for some subgroups of migrants, such as recent arrivals with little or no host-country language knowledge or women with childcare responsibilities—the transition to distance learning poses particular challenges. In Germany, only 38 percent of eligible migrants in the first months of the pandemic moved into the online integration courses offered as a substitute for in-person courses (OECD 2020b). Germany also considered these courses extra learning and did not subtract these online courses from immigrants’ course entitlement. In France, because basic French literacy and access to technology was required for online integration courses, such courses could be provided only to those immigrants with at least a basic proficiency in the French language (OECD 2020b).

These pandemic-driven trends may have significant impacts on long-term integration. Several studies show that language acquisition plays an important role in the economic as well as sociocultural integration of migrants and refugees: • In a review of studies that measure the effects of language on earnings, Chiswick and Miller (2014) show that knowledge of the host country’s language can increase immigrants’ earnings by 5–35 percent. • Comparing Moroccan and Turkish immigrants with Surinamese immigrants in the

Netherlands, Zorlu and Hartog (2018) show that knowledge of the host country’s language can increase the probability of employment by 30 percentage points, feelings of inclusion by 50 percentage points, and household income by €500 per month. • Summarizing the literature on migrants and refugees in Europe and the United

States, Özden and Wagner (2020) and Schuettler and Caron (2020) confirm the importance of language acquisition for economic integration and stress the importance of language training, particularly when combined with other integration courses. • Finally, OECD (2020b) notes that program shutdowns may hinder migrants’ employability and social integration, emphasizing that (a) the five-year period after arrival is critical; (b) discontinuity of language learning can limit progress in language courses, resulting in demotivation; and (c) social isolation from host-country natives who could help with informal learning is also a concern.