Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

1. Having regard to its Recommendation 786 (1976) on the education and cultural development of migrants, and its Recommendation 1089 (1988) on improving community relations (European Days ‘‘Enjoying our diversity'') ;

2. Welcoming the many activities being carried out in the field of the education and cultural development of migrants by the Council of Europe through the Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC) and the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), and by the European Community ;

3. Considering that the resolution on migrants' education, adopted by the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education (Dublin, May 1983), and Committee of Ministers Recommendation No. R (84) 18 on the training of teachers in education for intercultural understanding, notably in a context of migration, set out the principles on which coherent national policies for meeting migrants' educational and cultural needs should be based ;

4. Observing, however, that, despite the agreement over pedagogical principles for intercultural education, there are still divergences between host countries and countries of origin when it comes to the practicalities of the education of migrants' children ;

5. Considering that the lack of standardisation of statistical data concerning, in particular, migrants' children and their education constitutes a major obstacle to co-operation between member states in this field ;

6. Convinced that, if the education of migrants' children is to be successful, account must be taken not only of the needs of this particular group of pupils but also of those of the school as a whole, which undergoes radical changes when young foreigners arrive ;

7. Emphasising the need to shift away from the models of linguistic and cultural assimilation that have been prevalent in education so far ;

8. Underlining, therefore, the need to introduce the language of the country of origin into the education system of the host countries, in line with the aim of a multilingual school, which has repeatedly been promoted by the Council of Europe and the European Community ;

9. Affirming that intercultural education is the only way of making use of the valuable asset represented by the presence of young migrants in schools ;

10. Pointing out that the aim of intercultural education is to prepare all children, indigenous and migrant, to life in the pluricultural society ;

11. Convinced that the adoption of an intercultural approach to education minimises the adaptation problems migrants' children experience if the migrants decide to return to their countries of origin ;

12. Considering that the success of an intercultural policy depends to a large extent on a teacher training policy centred on the intercultural approach ;

13. Underlining the need to create in each country the preconditions for all social groups to participate actively in the social, economic, cultural and collective life of the society ;

14. Firmly supporting the current Council of Europe activities in the field of intercultural education ;

15. Welcoming the follow-up given by the Committee of Ministers to the request from the European Ministers of Education to hold in 1989 a multidisciplinary conference on the educational and cultural aspects of community relations,

16. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

a. promote consultation and co-ordination between education officers in the host countries and the countries of origin, so as to avoid the divergences that occur when the principles governing the education of migrants' children are put into practice ;

b. strengthen the research programmes and educational innovations that aim at the implementation of intercultural education for all children, in all sectors of the educational system ;

c. promote, within the context of intercultural education, activities including modern techniques in the field of teacher training ;

d. encourage educational exchanges at all levels of education and the setting up of a relationship between schools and migrant families ;

e. take the necessary steps to standardise statistical data concerning the education of migrants' children, in order to improve co-operation between member states in this field ;

f. invite also representatives of migrants' associations, as well as teachers' associations, to attend the multidisciplinary conference on the educational and cultural aspects of community relations to be held in 1989 ;

g. substantially improve the dissemination, in the member states, of information about Council of Europe activities in the field of migrants' education ;

h. invite the member states to encourage the development of new structures and mechanisms that are geared to the management of migrants' children's linguistic and cultural diversity and complexity ;

i. ensure that the Council of Europe works closely together with the European Community in this field.

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1. Assembly debate on 31 January 1989 (19th Sitting) (see Doc. 5994, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur : Mrs Bourdara ; and Doc. 6002, opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education, Rapporteur :Mrs Hennicot-Schoepges).

Text adopted by the Assembly on 31 January 1989 (19th Sitting).