{"id":479,"date":"2026-04-28T18:34:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.easyrights.test.polimi.it\/?page_id=479"},"modified":"2026-04-28T18:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T18:34:52","slug":"birmingham-hackathon-round-two-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.easyrights.test.polimi.it\/?page_id=479","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham Hackathon Round two"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BIG BIRMINGHAM HACKATHON – ROUND TWO Providing a technology solution to encourage and support people from migrant communities wishing to enrol on English language speaking courses in Birmingham (UK)\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Registration opening:\u00a0<\/strong>28th December 2021
Registration closing:\u00a0<\/strong>16th February 2022
Pre-hackathon event:<\/strong>\u00a011th February\u00a02022
Hackathon event:\u00a0<\/strong>17th, 18th, 19th February 2022<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Download the one paper<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

WHY<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When a migrant arrives to a country with a different language, the barriers they face multiply. Basic and fundamental tasks such as grocery shopping, attending a doctors appointment, talking to their children’s teachers or registering for public services become great obstacles to navigate. Directly or indirectly, all of these activities are related to basic human rights, threatened by the inability to communicate in the local language.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birmingham has an existing migrant and refugee population of circa 250,000; of which a great majority does not have English as their mother tongue. Birmingham City Council through Birmingham Adult Social Care are aware of this situation and offers migrants the possibility of receiving free English training courses. Migrants can develop their language skills in order to facilitate the integration of migrants in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\u00a0for migrants who do not speak any English (beginners\/pre-entry level), enrolment on a course is a burden in itself.<\/strong>\u00a0Firstly, they can not understand the information on the website or any flyer or poster, so\u00a0they do not know if they are entitled to free education.<\/strong>\u00a0It is only through relatives and other members of the community that they hear and eventually get supported to enroll on the course\/s. Then,\u00a0the registration process<\/strong>\u00a0includes either\u00a0a call\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013that they are afraid to have as they do not understand what is said and if they are missing important information \u2013\u00a0or a visit to the centre<\/strong>, where they have to go through an\u00a0assessment process<\/strong>. At the centre,\u00a0they need to complete the registration by filling in a form with some personal details and do an assessment task in English<\/strong>. Providing your name, your age or your address in a questionnaire may not sound burdensome to most of us, but when you can not read and understand what you need to respond to, the whole situation becomes an enigma impossible to approach individually.\u00a0As a result, a large number of migrants do not join the courses.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE CHALLENGE<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

It is not uncommon to find migrants that, many years after their arrival, are stillunable to speak English. Each time they do an errand, visit their GPs or applyfor a certificate, they lack the confidence and skills to do it by themselves,having to depend on someone from their community to steer them through theprocess. Therefore, create a technological solution which will allow migrants(who speak little or no English) to equip them prior to attending the languagecentre for the registration and assessment to be able to know and recognise keywords\/sentences that will give them assurance to ask questions with confidenceand independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Improving the accessibility of the service refers to the channels that provide the access (even when the migrant does not have an e-mail address), but also alludes to the clarification of procedures, the recognition of migrants\u2019 native languages, the offer of encouraging and enticing formats that resemble softwares and technologies they are already familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the 3 days of the Big Birmingham Hackathon Round Two, the different activities will facilitate the development of technological solutions that best serve the migrants’ needs in relation to their initial access to the BAES language courses, with a special focus on the pre-entry level learners. During the event, you will create an accessible and migrant-centred service that can positively impact the integration of this community by improving their experience when enrolling in English training. In short, your task will be to provide a technology solution to encourage and support people from migrant communities wishing to enrol on English language speaking courses in Birmingham (UK).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe solution should address the different steps of the previously-described journey, from the initial understanding of the course offer and conditions for fee exemption to the level assessment, including signing up for an information call, the registration (via call or visit), the completion of the personal details form, and the assessment at the centre. The solution, targeted to beginners\/pre-entry level migrants, should, therefore:<\/p>\n\n\n\n