• Project Evaluation

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    Romanian Community of Ireland
    “Info training programme for newly arrived Romanians” February – September 2008
    - Project Evaluation -
    By Gloria Macri, DCU

    Project objectives
    Moving away from ‘home’ and leaving behind family and friends as well as a familiar environment can be a difficult stage in the life of a migrant. Given its mission to act as a continuous source of information and support for Romanians living in Ireland, the Romanian Community of Ireland (RCI) aimed to develop a project that will target the newly arrived Romanian nationals in Ireland. Many of these newly arrived migrants may not be aware of the available sources of information relevant to them and they may also encounter difficulties in accessing the information and the services that they need (in particular in cases where the level of English language may not be sufficient).
    The objective of this project was to offer a series of training sessions and social meetings with the newly arrived Romanian migrants in Ireland, thus offering them with information about their rights, entitlements and obligations as residents in the State as well as custom and useful advice in key situations following their arrival. Training sessions would be followed by a series of social activities that would give the participants the occasion to interact, discuss and develop new ties and contacts in an informal and relaxed environment.
    Thus, besides facilitating access to information and advice, one of the most essential and wider-reaching proposed outcomes of these sessions is the inclusion of the new migrants in a social network that provides them with support as well as creating the premises for the development of new friendship ties with other people and, thus, avoiding marginalisation and social exclusion of the newly arrived migrants.


    Selection and profile of the applicants

    The training was advertised initially on the website, in the Romanian newspaper and also by word-of-mouth between the members of the community. A total of 25 persons expressed their interest in participating to the training sessions. All applicants had to fill in a questionnaire in order to ensure that:
    1. applicants fit in the target group (have not been living in Ireland for more than 3 months
    2. only the applicants with a genuine need for these training sessions are to be selected (Due to space limitations we could only fit 10-15 participants at each session)
    3. key areas that concern the newly arrived migrants are identified. In this respect, we have included in the questionnaire a set of open-ended questions to enable all applicants to express their views and concerns.


    Profile of the applicants

    The main concern in selecting the participants was to ensure that the persons recruited have arrived in Ireland recently (within the previous three months). Due to the targeted advertisement, only 4%[1] of the initial applicants did not fit the criteria of the target group (to have been living in Ireland for less than 3 months).


    Fig 1. Living in Ireland

    Regarding the profile of the applicants, we have recorded data on age, gender, level of English language skills as well as the professional background. The gender distribution of the applicants was slightly skewed towards the male group. However, this fact is consistent with the general international migration statistics which indicate that in spite of a growing feminisation of migration, the number of male migrants is still greater than the figure for females. In selecting the participants group however, we tried to ensure a balance from a gender perspective.


    Fig 2. Gender distribution

    With regards to age, more than 50% of the applicants were young (below 35 years old). Only 17% of the initial applicants were older than 46 years, and no migrants over 55 years old intended to apply to participate in the program. These figures are consistent with the general migration trends, as younger people are more likely to migrate.

    Fig 1. Age distribution

    In relation with the English language skills, 60% of the applicants would have little or no English at all. In addition, 40% have indicated that they have an acceptable or good level of English.


    With regards to their profession, the results seem to indicate that while some of them have a good professional qualification, they are now mostly working in low skill jobs (construction worker, kitchen porter, cleaner) or have no jobs at all.


    Project delivery and results

    In order to ensure that the information provided through the training is of most relevance to the group, the initial questionnaire given to all applicants to be filled in contained several open-ended questions. Thus, we intended to identify the information gaps and needs and thus customize the content of the training session as to help the newly arrived migrants access precisely the information and the type of support that they need.
    Several key topics emerged from the applicants’ views and English skills were top on the list of priorities. Applicants also indicated that they wanted to know more about the labour market conditions, including the right to work, information about work permits, as well as practical information on how to find a job. Access to education was also an important issue that emerged from the questionnaire, in particular in relation to the vocational courses as well as recognition of qualifications. Several applicants also indicated that they would like to find out more information about their rights as EU citizens living in Ireland. A number of applicants also mentioned that they would like to find out more details about the health system and access to medical treatment. It also emerged from the questionnaires that applicants would find it useful to access as much information on the topics mentioned above in a more centralised manner, such as a brochure tailored for the specific needs of the new migrants. In their view, a brochure would include basic information on accessing services as well as key contact details.

    Following from the key topics emerged from research, five courses (sessions) were designed to suit the participants’ interests:

    v Day 1 – Immigration and the Right to Work. This course provided participants with information about the new immigration rules applying to Romanians as EU citizens, as well as information about the labour market restrictions and work permit regulations

    v Day 2 – Revenue and self-employment/employee. This course has introduced participants to the key notions and legislation pertaining to taxes, for both employees as well as self-employed persons. It also gave the participants many practical examples and tips on how to calculate their tax


    v Day 3 – The Health System. This presentation provided the participants with key information on the health system, the medical card system, as well as practical information in relation to how to and where to access health services in Ireland.

    v Day 4 – Basic English Skills. This introductory English course aimed to familiarise the participants with some of the basic notions and expressions needed in everyday communication (ex: on the street, shops, public institutions etc.)

    v Day 5 – Access to Education and Labour Market. The last course of the project was focused on practical issues, such as building a CV and searching for a job in Ireland. During the course, all participants have initially followed a step-by-step process to write their CVs following the European CV model, and they concluded by translating their CV in English, following advice received from the trainer. During this course, information was also provided on the educational system in Ireland.

    Following the completion of the course, each participant was provided with a folder that contained all the information discussed in the courses as well as a compilation of materials on the above mentioned topics, which were available from different organisations: leaflets, print-outs etc.). In providing a comprehensive information pack to the new migrants, the Romanian Community will work closely with public institutions and NGOs responsible for the reception and integration of the migrants.

    Evaluation of the project’s outcomes

    As the RCI intends to make this type of training a continuous part of the organisation’s activities, an evaluation of the pilot project has been carried out. Thus, following each training session, participants were asked to give feedback on the quality of the presentation as well to provide suggestions and comments that could lead to the improvement of future similar initiatives.
    Generally, participants were very interested by the topics discussed and they rated all courses very high, both in terms of the information received, as well as the clarity of the presentation.
    The following table summarises the detailed feedback from evaluation survey for each of the courses.

    Course
    Feedback
    Immigration and the Right to Work · The participants viewed in a positive light the clarity of explanations received regarding the right to work in Ireland as a Romanian citizen. According to their views expressed in the evaluation survey, the presentation gave them the clear and honest’ answers that they were looking for.
    · However, several participants indicated that the information received has been somehow discouraging as no practical tips on how to get a work permit were provided
    Revenue and self-employment/employee · Participants appreciated the comprehensive presentation as well as the practical examples provided
    · However the participants mentioned that more emphasis should have been placed on the self-employment cases
    The Health System · This presentation was welcomed by the participants for its clarity and interesting information provided. They mentioned that knowing more about the functioning and organisation of the health system in Ireland as well as their entitlements is very helpful
    Basic English Skills · This course was particularly appreciated by the participants. The reviews indicate that the course was very interesting and the information presented very diverse. Learning about the usual words and phrases was considered by the participants to be very handy in their accommodation process
    · However, the participants to the course mentioned that this course should have been longer, or maybe more English training sessions should have been organised[2]
    Access to Education and Labour Market · This training session was very well received by participants due to its entirely practical orientation. The course had very practical outcomes as the participants have built their CV in both Romanian and English language.
    · However, participants’ feedback indicated also that more information about the recognition of qualifications would be needed

    An unanticipated outcome of the project was that following the completion of the course, the participants became more involved in the Romanian Community’s activities. Three of the participants have joined the Basic English new classes starting September and two others have committed their time to support the community in organising an event for Romania’s National Day in December 2008.


    Publication of the evaluation will be in the Romanian Newsletter, Romanian Community of Ireland website, New Communities Partnership website, Romanian Embassy website and possibly in the Metro Eireann newspaper.


    Concluding remarks

    With the financial help of the Community Foundation Grant, Romanian Community of Ireland has successfully piloted a series of training sessions, designed for the newly arrived Romanian migrants in Ireland. The project welcomed a group of 10-15 participants throughout a week of training sessions, beginning July1st
    The initiative proved to be successful due to the interesting topics chosen (following consultation with the applicants) and also due to the quality of the presentations. The feedback received from the participants is a valuable asset in improving the design of future training sessions.
    Following up from the feedback received, The Romanian Community will soon engage in the production of a customised brochure in collaboration with Romanian Embassy in Ireland, that will provide all new migrants with the basic information and useful contact details needed in the first stages of their migration process. The Romanian Community will also investigate the possibilities and resources for organising a similar training session in the near future.


    Written by Gloria Macri, DCU



    [1] Due to the small number of questionnaires (25), the computation of percentages has only an indicative significance
    [2] The Romanian Community of Ireland in partnership with the DCC and VEC is already organising English classes for beginners. Hence, the English training session which was part of this project was only meant to be an introductory and very brief presentation of basic, everyday English.