#Backtoschool

Education could pave the way towards a more stable and brighter future for children seeking and benefiting from international protection, after often several years of flight and insecurity. Many of them see education as an opportunity to re-build their lives in a new environment and they typically arrive highly motivated to continue school after long periods of absence.

Still, law, policy and practice in the final country of asylum will determine whether children under international protection are able to realise their dreams and aspirations. Children’s high ambitions might quickly disappear when faced with specific legal, administrative and practical barriers hindering them from continuing and succeeding in school. The objective of this study is to give a comparative overview of the current situation of asylum seeker and refugee children having reached compulsory school age in seven EU Member States (France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden) where recently they have all experienced a sharp increase in the number of asylum applications.

Preparing teachers for diversity

The role of initial teacher education

Although the cultural, linguistic and religious diversity found in European societies is not a new phenomenon, its nature is rapidly changing. Europe is becoming increasingly diverse due to intra-European mobility, international migration, including recently an increased influx of refugees and asylum-seekers. These societal changes create both opportunities and challenges for schools, and education systems need to adapt accordingly. At the same time, recent studies show that intolerance and social exclusion are growing, with some groups feeling alienated and marginalised. These phenomena place specific demands on schools and teachers, calling them to re-consider their everyday practices and strategies to meet the learning needs of their diverse pupil populations. The evidence demonstrates that despite the increasing heterogeneity of European classrooms, the teaching population remains largely homogenous and feels illprepared to teach students from diverse socioeconomic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Education systems need to make sure that initial teacher education (ITE) and continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities effectively equip teachers with the relevant intercultural competences, linguistically responsive teaching competences and ability to reflect on their own beliefs, cultural and socioeconomic differences. There is an increasing need to challenge the current negative perceptions of diversity, shifting towards recognising and multiplying its benefits. This study has helped to consolidate existing knowledge across Europe and beyond, and to gather new evidence on the way student teachers are prepared for diversity in the classroom and to teach about diversity in society.

Download the position paper here: Preparing teachers for diversity

Continuity of learning for newly arrived refugee children in Europe

Notwithstanding the efforts made by EU Member States in recent years, third-country nationals continue to be placed at a disadvantage regarding employment, education and social inclusion compared to EU citizens (OECD/European Union, 2015). For refugees, and people with a migration background at large, education is key for socio-economic success and for overcoming disadvantages in European societies. Education fosters social inclusion, economic growth and innovation. While the education of migrants may have higher costs than for non-migrants in a short-term perspective, it is a social investment in the long term (Bonin, 2017). This is true from the perspective of receiving societies of the EU but also from the perspective of building peace and stability in the countries of origin of refugees. Considering that some refugees will eventually return to their countries of origin, the education and skills they acquire in EU countries are tools they can apply for transformation processes in the concerned countries. 
Enhancing education for migrants requires coordination of different policy areas and multi-stakeholder involvement (Bonin, 2017). EU Member States have been facing challenges in providing decent opportunities in education for newly arriving refugees and integrating them into mainstream education. These challenges have intensified since 2015 with the arrival of larger numbers of refugees and asylum seekers.
This paper aims to provide an overview of the existing approaches of policies and initiatives for ensuring continuity of learning for refugees and asylum seekers, especially in Belgium (Flanders), Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and Italy.

Back to School

Responding to the needs of newcomer refugee youth

The high number of recently arrived refugees in minor age places their integration high on the agenda of education systems. Refugee children and youth have specific needs that set them apart from other migrant pupils, and schools and teachers need to respond in a timely and adequate way. Drawing on Eurostat data, this MPG paper first provides a detailed insight into the size, distribution and age structure of minors who recently applied for, or received, international protection in Europe, thus showing how far-reaching the tasks are in the years ahead. It continues with an overview of eight particular challenges for successfully integrating refugee children and youth in schools, which often correspond to unmet needs and education policy gaps in European countries. These challenges include e.g. prolonged insecurity due to long asylum procedures, problems with assessing previous attainments, need for catch-up education to make good time spent outside school, traumatization or a high share of unaccompanied minors above compulsory school age. Referring to MIPEX results, stakeholder interviews in seven countries and key results of previous research, the paper then sketches out the strengths and weaknesses of migrant education policies across European countries and identifies success factors in national policies for newcomer pupils. The annex includes an analysis of EU-level stakeholder organisations active in the migrant education field.

MULTI‐COUNTRY PARTNERSHIP TO ENHANCE THE EDUCATION OF REFUGEE AND ASYLUM‐SEEKING YOUTH IN EUROPE

The ‘Multi‐country Partnership to Enhance the Education of Refugee and Asylum‐seeking Youth in Europe  ‐ PERAE’ was initiated by the SIRIUS Network – Policy Network on Migrant Education in 2016 with the support of the Mercator Foundation. The initiative builds up on the SIRIUS ‘Agenda on Migrant Education’ (SIRIUS, 2014) and the Statement on Urgent Response for the Education of Refugees (SIRIUS, 2015) that “calls on the EU and its Member States to respond to the specific education needs of refugee children and students in the EU and abroad”. The partnership between seven countries (Belgium (Flanders), Bulgaria, Germany (Bavaria, Hamburg), Greece, the Nether‐ lands, Sweden, United Kingdom (England) addresses inadequate access to quality education for asylum‐seeking and refugee youth1 throughout the European Union (EU) with a focus on secondary education.

The ‘Multi‐country Partnership to Enhance the Education of Refugee and Asylum‐seeking Youth in Europe’ aimed to contribute to the improvement of the access to quality education for refugee children and youth through the adaptation of policies in the European countries to their needs. Through an interactive process with stakeholders and policy makers, the initiative ensured that the developed recommendations were owned and implemented by them. It is expected that this will contribute to better educational opportunities for refugee children and youth in a long term perspective.

We are sharing here the report that constitutes a comparative analysis of the national reports compiled in stage one of the ‘Multi‐country Partnership to Enhance the Education of Refugee and Asylum‐seeking Youth in Europe’. Hence, a particular focus is placed on approaches of policies and initiatives for ensuring access to education and opportunities to succeed in education for refugees and asylum seekers in school age (with a focus on secondary education) in Belgium (Flanders), Germany (Bavaria and Hamburg), Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (England). While using the national reports of the ‘Multi‐country Partnership to Enhance the Education of Refugee and Asylum‐seeking Youth in Europe’ as the main resource, the comparative analysis also draws on other existing studies in order to complement the available information. On the basis of desk research, Finland and Italy were further included in the comparison due to their relevance for the topic of concern in regard to the implementation of good practices (Finland) and the hosting of large numbers of young refugees and asylum seekers (Italy).