The authorities in the town of Mortsel, south of Antwerp have launched a pilot project in which childcare will be provided while the non-Dutch speaking mothers of children aged between 0 and 3 learn Dutch. The project is aimed primarily at women with a low level of academic attainment. The local authority says that this vulnerable group often becomes isolated.
Town authorities in Mortsel provide childcare for mothers that wish to learn Dutch
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With its ‘Mama Leert’ (Mummy is learning) project Mortsel Town Council hopes to remove some of the obstacles that non-Dutch speaking mothers of young children face if they want to learn Dutch. In addition to learning the language those attending the language lessons will also have the opportunity to extend and strengthen their social network.
The Alderman responsible for integration in Mortsel Nadia Saouti (Green/socialist list) told VRT News that "The language lessons are tailored to the life they lead”.
“We have noticed that vulnerable mothers sometimes become isolated. The waiting time for a regular language course is long, which means that valuable time is wasted. To make good use of that time, we came up with this”.
Pilot project until June
The lessons take place every Monday afternoon at the Rode Kubus after-school childcare centre. “This means that the children can be looked after while their mothers attend lessons. In this way, we are also removing that barrier”, Ms Saouti said.
The pilot project will run until 8 June. “After that, we will evaluate it, and if it proves successful, we will offer it for a whole school year starting in September.”