Client: Ministry of Culture
Period: 2023
The study is the final evaluation of two activities aimed at the adaptation of new immigrants of the measure 2.6 under the priority axis ‘Increasing Social Inclusion’ of the Operational Programme for Cohesion Policy Funds 2014–2020: (1) the development and implementation of support networks, and (2) the ‘Settle in Estonia’ adaptation program courses and materials.
The correlation between services offered to new immigrants and their adaptation in Estonia was assessed based on the 2020 Integration Monitoring (IM) data. Immigrants who used the PPA counselling service rated their adaptation in Estonia higher than those who did not use the service. However, those who participated in the adaptation program rated their adaptation lower. Since the IM data does not show a cause-effect relationship, the result may indicate self-selection by immigrants in using the services. New immigrants who arrived through family migration, the unemployed, and those in the age group of 25-34 rated their adaptation worse.
As a result of the support network analysis, it emerged that different stakeholders understand the meaning and objectives of the support network differently. Therefore, we recommend that in each specific case, it should be determined which support network is being developed and for what purpose.
The courses and training materials of the adaptation program are generally highly rated by both participants and trainers. In recent years, as the demand for adaptation program trainings has increased, the main bottleneck has turned out to be the registration process. In the situation of limited resources and future reduction of ESF funds, it is necessary to consider how to make the adaptation program more efficient. One could consider changing the objectives and structure of the training modules of the adaptation program: replacing guided trainings of knowledge-oriented modules with attitude-shaping, practical skill-giving, and social network-creating meetings. Instead of guided trainings, online videos on self-learning platforms could become the main carriers of knowledge and information.