A group of refugees will be learning English for free following an agreement reached between the government and a language school, Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia said.

The refugees will be sitting alongside other students throughout four-week programmes – consisting of 15 hours of lessons a week – offered by Elanguest.

The pilot project, which will run until June, is aimed at helping refugees learn how to better communicate in English while encouraging integration, the minister said.

At the end, the government will be looking at the progress made by the refugees who attend.

In future, the government hoped to extend this to other asylum seekers – including those seeking temporary or subsidiary protection.

The minister thanked Elanguest for the initiative and called on other language schools to join in.

Elanguest head of marketing André Delicata said the school hoped to take on at least 18 refugees during the next few months and classes will be held in St Julian’s.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said that while voluntary organisations were already teaching English to some migrants, it was positive to see experts in the field come forward to share their expertise.

“This is a great example of corporate social responsibility,” he said.