YFI

Promoters:

The Labour Market Administration, City of Stockholm.

Country:

Sweden

A teaching model that aims to shorten the time between migrants’ arrival and their entrance into the labour market, by supporting their social integration and employability through vocational training courses with integrated language education.

What solution does the innovation propose?

The model aims to help recently arrived migrants find employment through combining vocational training, professional skills and language education. Language teachers and vocational trainers work together from the first day with the goal of fostering job market integration. There are three vocations to choose from: restaurant chef, building and construction specialist, and assistant nurse.

Impact evidence

Outputs

A low number of dropouts is seen in comparison to traditional Swedish courses for immigrants.
71 participants successfully completed the educational programmes.

Outcomes

Of those who completed the programmes, 65 found a job in their fields of study.

Sources

Measurements from the Municipality of Stockholm, based on teachers’ assessments and on the information provided by employers (2018).

Oxford Research (2017) “Lärande utvärdering av YFI – Yrkesutbildning med integrerad språkutbildning för invandrare. Delrapport 2”.

How does it work?

From start to finish, training and work are interweaved to ensure that the studies are perceived as meaningful and useful. This is possible because language teachers and vocational trainers work together from the first day with the goal of fostering job market integration of participants. YFI gives students a good knowledge of working life in Sweden and, in particular, a specialised focus on the industry the student has chosen to focus his or her studies on. Students begin with an introductory course and, for five to six months, they study the Swedish language with a focus on the professional language of their chosen vocational sector. Participants can also take the Swedish language tests during this initial period. Once they have passed the introductory training, students enter a secondary level vocational education institution, where language teachers are also present to help them maximise their learning experience. Once the training is over and if they are approved, students get secondary level vocational grades. The programme also includes internships, company visits, visits from companies and workplace-based learning. All courses are free of charge.