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A. Draft resolution
(open)
Report | Doc. 14524 | 06 April 2018
Integration, empowerment and protection of migrant children through compulsory education
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Summary
In 2016, out of 6.4 million primary and secondary school-age refugees around the world, an estimated 3.5 million had no school to go to. Only 61% of refugee children had access to primary education compared with a global level among non-refugees of 91%, and an average of 23% refugee adolescents attended lower secondary school compared to 84% of non-refugee adolescents.
Schools should be safe places for children to grow, socialise and learn together, but schools are still being used as targets or military bases in conflict zones. Even in countries not at war, they may be the scene of unacceptable demonstrations of coercion by armed forces, such as expulsions of irregular migrants. Asylum procedures are sometimes used as a pretext to deny children schooling, and segregation used as a way to avoid addressing linguistic or cultural challenges.
This report highlights the gap between States’ undertakings under domestic and international legislation on primary and secondary education and its actual delivery to migrant and refugee children. Examples from Council of Europe member States illustrate good practices and many areas for improvement. The recommendations constitute a “checklist” of conditions for ensuring migrant children’s education.
A. Draft resolution 
(open)1. The right to education and
States’ duty to provide it are enshrined in Article 26 of the 1948
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in Article 17.2 of the 1996
European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163), in Article 13 of
the 1966 United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child.
2. Despite this matrix of international legal provisions framing
European countries’ obligation to provide accessible, acceptable
and adaptable education to all children, in 2016, only 61% of refugee
children had access to primary education compared with a global
level among non-refugees of 91%. An average of 23% refugee adolescents
attended lower secondary school compared to 84% of non-refugee adolescents
and only 1% of refugees were attending university compared to 36%
worldwide. Out of 6.4 million primary and secondary school-age refugees
around the world, an estimated 3.5 million had no school to go to.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly is extremely concerned about Council
of Europe member States’ failure to implement their undertakings
with respect to education for migrant and especially refugee children,
and stresses the urgent need to remedy the situation by giving priority
to providing inclusive and effective educational programmes as well
as the infrastructure and teaching resources to support them. It
calls on member States to respect their international undertakings,
in particular the obligation to provide accessible and free primary
and secondary education to all migrant children within their territory,
whatever their origin, gender and background. In the light of the
obligations subscribed under Article 17.2 of the European Social
Charter (revised) the Assembly urges Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Poland, San Marino,
Spain and the United Kingdom to ratify this instrument.
4. In conflict-affected regions, schools must be recognised as
a sanctuary not to be used by military or police forces. In countries
not directly touched by war or tensions, domestic legislation should
prohibit the presence or entry of police or armed forces inside
classrooms in any normal circumstances (for purposes of expulsion,
for instance). Their presence is a source of trauma not only for
the children concerned, but also for children who witness violations
of rights, inhuman treatment and intimidation. In this regard, the
Assembly calls on those member States which have not yet done so
to sign the Safe Schools Declaration adopted at the May 2015 Oslo
International Conference on Safe Schools.
5. Once integrated into mainstream classes, most countries provide
the same services to migrant children as to others. The Assembly
welcomes this state of affairs and urges States to extend equal
treatment to all the different situations in which migrant and refugee
children find themselves, from reception to integration and during
relocation and resettlement, in order to ensure continuity in education,
individual well-being and social stability in the host country,
and to favour future integration. Children destined to return to
their countries of origin will also suffer from gaps in their education
once home.
6. The problems encountered by migrant and refugee families and
unaccompanied children concern above all the precariousness and
unpredictability of situations, waiting periods for access to education,
language barriers, geographical accessibility, insufficient information
and guidance for families, lack or absence of financial assistance
for asylum applicants to cover educational expenses, and the treatment
and integration of traumatised children. The Assembly therefore
calls on member States to:
6.1. provide
primary and secondary classroom education accessible to all migrant
children and free of charge;
6.2. set national objectives for the school attendance of migrant
and refugee children;
6.3. integrate education for migrant and refugee children and
specialised teacher training into the budget of the Ministry for
Education rather than into that of humanitarian and development
assistance;
6.4. for educational purposes, not differentiate between children
according to their asylum status;
6.5. encourage all children to attend secondary school until
the age of 18, regardless of whether possible school-leaving ages
are lower in either the host country or the country of origin;
6.6. provide full and comprehensible information to parents
about the educational possibilities for their school-age children
and their own responsibilities to allow their children to study;
6.7. put in place effective “firewalls” between the information
systems of schools and immigration authorities to protect data on
the status of migrants in irregular situations, in order to avoid
its misuse to deny or complicate access to education for migrant
children;
6.8. inform and give access, encouragement, learning incentives
and assistance to unaccompanied minors to attend classes;
6.9. give access wherever possible to mainstream education
in local classes and provide adequate transport and accompaniment
to children accommodated in centres and camps;
6.10. make sure that if it is not possible to provide education
in mixed local classes, the schooling provided follows recognised
methods and curricula which can be used to establish levels of education later;
6.11. ensure that psycho-social assistance is provided in order
to diagnose and address cases of trauma, as well as specific teacher
training to recognise early signs of distress linked to refugee children’s
experiences;
6.12. address the infrastructural challenges in terms of educational
facilities, which is one of the main obstacles to attaining high
enrolment rates of refugee and migrant children.
7. Migrant and refugee children should be given the opportunity
to attend pre-school structures in countries where these exist.
Where pre-schools are not free of charge, help should be given to
enable attendance. The Assembly welcomes the organisation of “welcoming
classes” in primary education and international classes in secondary
education; these should be provided on regular school premises rather
than in dedicated centres and should not be used as a way to segregate
migrant children (for example, the length of classes should not exceed
the point where children are ready to join normal classes).
8. Language learning is an important part of integration and
a precondition for the advancement of other learning abilities.
Additional language courses should be made available free of charge
to children (and parents) where needed. Where possible, access to
mother-tongue educational resources should be made available. The
Assembly also calls on all Council of Europe member States to encourage
financially and structurally further and higher education for migrants,
making use of tools such as the Council of Europe Language Support
Toolkit for Adult Refugees and supporting projects such as the Council
of Europe’s European Qualifications Passport for Refugees piloted
by Greece in 2017.
9. Gender-sensitive education should be in place and teachers
trained in how to manage culturally sensitive situations linked
to gender, to recognise gender-specific issues and to reject and
avoid propagating stereotypes. These skills should be taught as
a general rule, but the Assembly points out that they are all the more
important when the cultures, habits and beliefs of migrants and
refugees differ from those of the majority in the host country.
Accepting difference and inciting curiosity about other cultures
and indeed one’s own culture and history begins in the classroom.
10. The Assembly therefore strongly urges member States to work
actively towards fulfilment of the objectives set out above. Non-respect
of the legal undertakings guaranteed by the implementation of these concrete
measures constitutes a flagrant violation of children’s rights.
Education is a powerful tool for integration of migrants and refugees
and for the empowerment of young people destabilised by situations
for which they are not responsible.
B. Explanatory memorandum, by Ms Petra De Sutter, rapporteur
(open)1. Introduction
1. According to figures of the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees
spend an average of 20 years in exile. Although this average is
weighted by those who do not return to their countries of origin,
it is nevertheless clear that refugees often spend many years in
temporary and sometimes precarious situations, such as city refugee
camps, where the need to ensure basic rights and resources for oneself
and one’s family often takes precedence over the other necessities
of human existence which are not directly linked to physical survival.
Education is one of those necessities, as an enabling factor for
the fulfilment of human potential, a precondition for individual
well-being and a tool for life in general.
2. The enormous disparities between the inalienable right to
classroom education for all children as set out in international
law and the reality of refugee children’s actual access to education,
not only in disadvantaged regions where most children have difficulties
in exercising their right to education, is a sobering reminder of
the challenges to refugees’ access to human rights in general, as
compared to that of populations which are not victims of conflict
and persecution.
3. The figures speak for themselves: in 2016, there were 6.4
million primary and secondary school-age refugees around the world,
of whom an estimated 3.5 million had no school to go to. Only 61%
of these children had access to primary education, compared with
a global level among non-refugees of 91%. An average of only 23%
of refugee adolescents attended lower secondary school, compared
to 84% of non-refugee adolescents, and only 1% of refugees attend
university, compared to 36% worldwide.
4. Although the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced
Persons regularly addresses education in its reports on various
aspects of migrants’ and refugees’ rights, it has never devoted
a whole report to the question. The Committee on Culture, Science
and Education prepared a report and a recommendation on education
of refugees and internally displaced persons as far back as 2004
(Recommendation 1652
(2004)). It therefore appears appropriate at present to examine
the situation in depth, especially in the light of the ongoing and
prolonged critical situation of refugees and migrants, in order
for the Assembly to take stock of European policies and programmes
and to make relevant recommendations to member States.
5. In the preparation of this report I endeavoured first to examine
the different aspects of schooling for children and the specificities
of education for non-native children in transit and host countries,
then at the obligations under international conventions. To complete
the work on the report, I looked at a range of national cases and
practices in order to provide the Assembly with a clear overview
of the challenges to the fulfilment of refugee children’s educational
rights and needs and the appropriate responses.
6. At a hearing of the committee on 8 December in Paris 2017,
Wouter Vanderhole, holder of the UNICEF Chair in children's rights
and Spokesperson for the Law and Development Research Group of the
University of Antwerp, gave a useful overview of international standards
regarding the right to education with recommendations for their
implementation. The committee also heard a presentation by the representatives
of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation on the achievements and challenges
of education for refugee children in Turkey, and on the work of
the foundation, which was building 29 schools and running five pre-school
training centres and12 rehabilitation centres for refugees and IDPs,
providing educational materials to 357 schools and support to 225
temporary education centres and three teacher training centres.
2. The importance of schooling for migrant and refugee children
2.1. Why should education be given priority?
7. As the motion at the origin
of this report points out, “States have a positive obligation to
fulfil education rights for migrated children, especially those
most vulnerable (such as undocumented migrants)”. In peaceful times
and places, the classroom is a place where children are together
in a non-discriminatory, conflict-free, participative environment,
which can be a safe haven from everyday worries and family problems.
Primary education helps teach children methodology, verbal and numerical
reasoning, and collective, socio-cultural behaviour patterns, and
is an essential element of growing up, without it a person is not
“whole”.
8. The multiplier effect of education on eradicating poverty
and hunger and on promoting gender equality and economic growth
also illustrates education’s important role; in countries where
education is of a high quality the economic advantages include greater
productivity and return for the State. In addition, higher levels of
education mean less assistance and benefits payable by the State.
With respect to integration, a coherent educational trajectory is
a precondition for young migrants’ entry into further or higher
education and employment, and will equip them to defend their own
worth as factors of diversity and skilled, motivated adults. This
in turn can only contribute to reversing negative stereotypes of
migrants as a burden on societies and a source of communitarianism.
9. In the case of refugee children, uprooted from their homes
and cultures and confronted with severe hardship, violence and crime,
education is crucial to help them to understand situations into
which they have been thrown through no choice of their own, and
to gain dignity and a sense of their place in society. Education also
has a vital role safeguarding migrated children from exploitative
and hazardous labour and sexual exploitation.
2.2. International provisions providing for access to education for migrants
10. The right to education as well
as States’ duty to provide it, in particular in relation to primary
education, are enshrined in several fundamental international texts,
ranging from Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human
Rights to the 1996 European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163),
and including the 1966 United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights and the 1989 United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
11. Article 13 of the 1966 United Nations Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights states that education should be: available, accessible,
acceptable and adaptable. Primary
education must be “compulsory” and “available free to all”, whereas
secondary education “shall be made generally available and accessible
to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive
introduction of free education”. Article 13.1 adds that “education
shall education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality”; be directed to the human personality’s sense of dignity;
enable everyone to participate effectively in a free society; and
promote understanding among all “ethnic” groups, as well as nations
and racial and religious groups. A United Nations General Comment
of 16 November 2017 declared that all children, irrespective of
migration status, should have full access to all levels and all
aspects of education, on the basis of equality with nationals.
12. As far as the Council of Europe is concerned, under Article
17.2 of the European Social Charter (revised), States undertake
“to provide to children and young persons a free primary and secondary
education as well as to encourage regular attendance at schools”.
The Charter also contains provisions related to the prohibition
of child labour (under 15 years old) and the employment of children
while they are still in full-time education. The European Committee
of Social Rights (ECSR) has confirmed several times in its case
law that minor migrants have the right to education, regardless
of their status. The ECSR has also constantly held since 2004 that
the rights guaranteed by the Charter are to be enjoyed to the fullest
extent possible by refugees.
13. At the December 2017 hearing in Paris, Wouter Vandenhole pointed
out that the European Court of Human Rights has stressed the importance
and special nature of secondary as well as primary education (ruling,
in particular, that even for irregular migrants, school fees for
secondary education should not be charged).
14. The Court has also stated that education serves broader societal
functions: it is not only about successful personal and professional
development of those who benefit from education, but also important
for society: social and professional integration; achieving pluralism
and thus democracy. In
a “knowledge-based” society, secondary education plays an ever-increasing
role in successful personal development and in the social and professional
integration of the individuals concerned.
In
a “knowledge-based” society, secondary education plays an ever-increasing
role in successful personal development and in the social and professional
integration of the individuals concerned. 15. The European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights refers
to the right to education in its Articles 13, 14, 21, 32 and brings
together the rights already set out in the Council of Europe and
United Nations treaties. The Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA)
monitors education issues in relation to refugee children, and has
been a source of information for this report. A worrying study of
14 EU member countries reported
that in nine States, children in immigration detention had no access
to any form of education, and that the main challenges concerning
access to early childhood education included long waiting periods,
language barriers, accessibility in terms of distance, insufficient
guidance for families, lack of information, low allowances for expenses,
and the treatment and integration of traumatised children. In some
parts of three member States (Germany, Greece and Hungary), asylum
seekers and refugees do not have access to formal school education, only
a few NGOs or volunteers provide any form of education.
reported
that in nine States, children in immigration detention had no access
to any form of education, and that the main challenges concerning
access to early childhood education included long waiting periods,
language barriers, accessibility in terms of distance, insufficient
guidance for families, lack of information, low allowances for expenses,
and the treatment and integration of traumatised children. In some
parts of three member States (Germany, Greece and Hungary), asylum
seekers and refugees do not have access to formal school education, only
a few NGOs or volunteers provide any form of education.3. The global situation with respect to refugees’ and migrants’ access to education
16. The proportion of children
who are refugees is increasing constantly: according to a Unicef
report in 2016, children now make up more than half of the world’s
refugees, despite the fact that they account for less than a third
of the global population. Global conflicts since 2011 have seen
a 75% increase in the number of child refugees (half of all child
refugees protected by the UNHCR in 2016 came from Syria and Afghanistan). A
considerable proportion of these children are unaccompanied (this
issue is the subject of several past and ongoing reports so will
not be examined in depth in this study).
17. The above-mentioned figures (paragraph 3) are world averages
– in lower-income countries only 9% of secondary-age children attend
school. In these countries, schooling for all children is a greater
challenge: providing primary and secondary education for refugees
fulfils therefore the double objective of empowering children who
are refugees individually, but also of helping them to in turn help
their displaced parents and siblings who suffer from illiteracy
and lack of professional and life skills to find their place in
new environments and start the path towards integration.
3.1. United Nations and non-governmental organisations
18. The United Nations Sustainable
Development Goal 4, to “Ensure inclusive and quality education for
all and promote lifelong learning” (by 2030), provides a long-term
roadmap for the education needs of vulnerable populations, including
refugees, stateless persons and other forcibly displaced people.
At the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit in Turkey in May
2016, the “Education Cannot Wait Fund” was established to meet the
educational needs of millions of children and youth affected by
crises around the world and, importantly, with the aim of bridging
the gap between humanitarian aid and development aid. The fund aimed
to reach 1.4 million children by the end of 2017, with an eventual
goal for 2030 of helping almost 16 million children.
19. UNESCO’s World Education Forum in May 2015 adopted a 2030
Framework for Action “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education
and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. This framework reiterates
that States must provide free and compulsory primary education and
available and accessible secondary education including technical
and vocational training, that higher education should be accessible
to all. They must also end discrimination at all levels of the educational
system.
3.2. The European Union
20. In April 2016, the European
Commission announced a €52 million humanitarian aid package aimed specifically
at educational projects for children in emergency situations, in
line with the Commission's commitment to allocate 4% of its humanitarian
aid budget to education (from 1% previously). The assistance targets
regions where children are at higher risk of being left out of school
or having their education disrupted: the Middle East (especially
Syria and Iraq), central and west Africa, Asia, Ukraine, central
America and Colombia.
21. The aid is channelled through NGOs, United Nations agencies
and international organisations, and at the same time as direct
funding for educational materials and teaching, will also address
problems of infrastructure. For instance, UNICEF has been allocated
funds to improve the quality of children's learning environment
in Aleppo by providing solar panels to schools to reduce the problems
of power cuts. Low-cost computers and tablets will be given to Syrian
children to give them access to digital resources in schools.
22. The European Commission launched its largest humanitarian
programme for education of refugee children in Turkey in 2017. The
aim is to encourage 230 000 refugee children to attend school in
Turkey. In March 2017 the €34 million “Conditional Cash Transfer
for Education” (CCTE) project, designed and managed in partnership
with UNICEF and the Turkish Red Crescent, began awarding cash transfers
directly to refugee families whose children regularly attend school.
The CCTE will support vulnerable children to improve access to education
in both Turkish public schools and Temporary Education Centres and
to integrate into the national programme. As at 12 February 2018,
604 057 children, who came to Turkey via mass migration, were enrolled in
the Turkish education system. 369 056 Syrians and Iraqis with temporary
protection status are enrolled in education facilities which pursue
Turkish curricula. In 338 temporary education centres in 20 provinces
in Turkey, 225 390 students are receiving intensive language courses
in Turkish. The low enrolment rates by Syrians under temporary protection
might be partly explained by the fact that Syria lacked an obligatory
high school education.
4. What kind of education?
4.1. Schools should keep children safe
23. Since 2007, the military use
of schools or universities by government armed forces and non-State
armed groups has been documented in at least 29 countries with armed
conflict or insecurity, according to the Global Coalition to Protect
Education from Attack. Human Rights Watch, a member of the
coalition, published a report on the subject in March 2017, as well
as several country-specific reports, including one on Ukraine which stated that both Ukrainian
Government forces and Russia-backed militants had carried out attacks
on schools, used schools for military purposes and deployed forces
in and near schools. The resulting destruction has forced many schools
to stop operating or to operate in extremely difficult conditions.
Human Rights Watch, a member of the
coalition, published a report on the subject in March 2017, as well
as several country-specific reports, including one on Ukraine which stated that both Ukrainian
Government forces and Russia-backed militants had carried out attacks
on schools, used schools for military purposes and deployed forces
in and near schools. The resulting destruction has forced many schools
to stop operating or to operate in extremely difficult conditions.24. In countries of transit and reception of refugees and migrants
not directly engaged in conflict, firewalls must be ensured between
educational institutions and immigration authorities. Children should
not be deprived of schooling as a result of delays or negative administrative
decisions. Their development as children and young people should
be given priority, and interruptions in their educational trajectories
avoided in order to reduce sources of multiple discriminations in
the future. Police officers should never be granted access to schools
in any circumstances related to migration processes, for instance
to deal with cases of return after rejection of asylum applications.
4.2. Children should be educated together
25. Investment in a shared system
– with refugees and the children of the host community learning
side by side – will create long-lasting improvements for the community
and ease tensions over the extra strain on local resources. Building
new schools and training more teachers improves the quality of a
country’s education system for future generations of students –
be they refugees or citizens of the host country. In countries where refugees
are so numerous they are accommodated in centres of a scale exceeding
that of large towns – mainly Syria’s neighbours outside Europe,
but including Turkey – classes must, however, be organised autonomously to
ensure access through proximity. Here, the United Nations principles
of availability, accessibility, acceptability and adaptability should
serve as a guide. In this context, Turkey constitutes a good example,
since Syrian pupils are enrolled in the Turkish education system
after an intensive Turkish language course.
26. Implementation of inclusive educational principles can encounter
difficulties which, if not overcome, amount to serious violations
of the right to education. At a joint hearing of the Committees
on Equality and Non-Discrimination and on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons in June 2016 in Strasbourg, NGOs working in the
Calais “jungle” denounced the fact that refugee children supposedly
transported by bus to local schools in Calais were missing classes
most of the time simply due to delays and bad scheduling of arrival
and departure of buses. This shows that supervision is needed at
all stages, and the objective of respect for the best interests
of the child must be shared by all actors. States must show firm
political will in carrying out policies.
27. There is strong consensus among international actors that
integration into mainstream education is required. The European
Court of Human Rights has so far ruled on this aspect only with
respect to children with disabilities and Roma children, but the
principle of non-segregation in education should be extended to migrant
children (avoiding differentiation on ground of nationality or ethnic
origin). There
may be grounds for separate classes in some disciplines, especially
with respect to language learning, but in this case there should be
a requirement for language tests to be carried out at placement
stage; curricula should be designed to address language deficiencies,
and should by no means constitute a basis for segregation.
There
may be grounds for separate classes in some disciplines, especially
with respect to language learning, but in this case there should be
a requirement for language tests to be carried out at placement
stage; curricula should be designed to address language deficiencies,
and should by no means constitute a basis for segregation.28. In addition to international obligations, the different situations
of refugees in host countries pleads for a “blanket” legislation
rendering primary and secondary education compulsory for all children,
whatever their origin or status. The study by FRA also notes that
once enrolled in school, asylum-seeking children usually benefit
from the same schooling and care as national children and in some
countries are also eligible for additional support, such as language
courses or financial allowances for school supplies or support concerning disabilities.
4.3. Primary education should be compulsory and provided during all stages of asylum processes
29. In Europe, national regulations
vary considerably, many revealing weaknesses and breaches in the implementation
of children’s right to education. In the Netherlands, for example,
primary education is compulsory for Dutch and migrant children alike
up to the age of 16, whereas in Sweden and in Germany school attendance
is not an obligation for children between the ages of 6 and 16 whose
residence status has not yet been determined. However, the fact
that pre-school education in the Netherlands is mainly private and subject
to fees means that migrant children are often disqualified, whereas
any child arriving in Sweden can attend open pre-schools free of
charge. In larger Swedish cities, special pre-schools focus on Swedish language
learning.
30. In Turkey, 362 451 children of registered refugees do not
attend school. Foreign pupils without identity cards are registered
on the spot through an online system. Turkey is undertaking important
infrastructural projects to ensure that every pupil with international
protection status is able to receive education if he or she wishes.
It would appear however that access to education for children without
temporary protection remains a problem. For many extremely poor
refugee families, children are the only sources of income, and an
estimated one quarter of families have at least one child worker.
In addition, once children have missed years of schooling it is
very difficult to make up for the lost time.
4.4. Access must be given to all levels of education
31. A further advantage of integration
into mainstream educational structures is that they provide recognised,
accredited qualifications which open up paths to the next phases
of schooling. Based on its
long experience in the field, the UNHCR has concluded that parallel
systems are not only poor substitutes but are even counter-productive,
resulting in unaccredited learning stopping children from progressing.
32. The Council of Europe has not directly addressed early schooling
in this respect, but in 2017 it launched a pilot project “European
Qualifications Passport for Refugees”, whereby refugees having lost their
diplomas may be recognised for access to further education on the
basis of interviews, and a toolkit for language support for adult
refugees.
whereby refugees having lost their
diplomas may be recognised for access to further education on the
basis of interviews, and a toolkit for language support for adult
refugees. 4.5. The importance of language
33. Although it may be necessary
to provide extra classes for language learning, students acquire
social language most rapidly through immersion with peers. However,
while many children achieve social proficiency quickly through playing
and interacting with others, it can take much longer to achieve
academic proficiency. For children to learn academic language, vocabulary
and grammar used in the classroom must be explicitly taught, although
this should not mean displacement to other educational establishments,
as here too, children benefit from peer-group situations and emulation.
It goes without saying that the younger the children, the less need
for additional language learning, as all pupils will be at an early
stage in their progress with reading and writing skills.
34. For older students and families, language can be a real or
perceived barrier to integration and is undoubtedly one of the pull
factors for refugees wishing to reach the United Kingdom or Germany,
for instance. Help with host language learning in countries of reception,
and all children’s access to second and third languages at an early
age is essential for Europe’s sharing of responsibilities for and
distribution of current migration flows.
4.6. Cultural and social skills, non-formal education, gender and cultural differences
35. This report concentrates on
the implementation of compulsory schooling, but alongside this,
non-formal and intercultural education is extremely important for
refugees and migrants who have crossed entire continents to arrive
in countries with very different social and cultural traditions.
Formal curricula should therefore be accompanied by guidance in
everyday life skills in the host country, adapted to the age and circumstances
of children.
36. For migrant girls, education is all the more empowering as
a means of gaining autonomy from family and community situations
which may inhibit their independence as individuals. A safe classroom
is all the more important for girls, and early education has been
proved to reduce child marriages and sexual exploitation and abuse.
In the home countries of many refugees, access to formal schooling
is traditionally more difficult for girls than boys – another reason
for making at least primary education an obligation in host countries,
as a means of empowering girls and favouring their integration.
37. The education of girls raises particular problems: the system
in Syria segregates teenage girls and boys from the age of 12, so
many parents are reluctant to allow their daughters to attend mixed
schools. An initiative in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon, for instance,
funded by Save the Children and the United Nations Women For Peace
Association, has led to the opening of a school to educate 160 Syrian
girls aged from 14 to 18 who have missed school for several years.
If the girls are able to pass the Lebanese system’s eighth grade
exams (usually taken at 14 or 15), they may go on to attend local
Lebanese public schools.
38. In transit or host countries with marked cultural and/or religious
differences, children and their parents are required to assimilate
and accept rapidly local cultures and traditions; to be educated
along with the local children, migrant children must, of course,
respect the legislation and regulations concerning education in
the host country. Therefore a condition for successful education
of migrant children is their willingness to learn, supported by
the willingness of their parents to educate their children according
to the local rules and laws. Without this willingness to integrate,
the efforts of the recipient State authorities to offer education
to migrant children will have limited effect.
4.7. Teaching the teachers
39. Teacher training is also an
important element in ensuring quality education by inclusion of
migrants in mainstream education systems. The UNHCR addresses this
with online teachers’ toolkits containing adaptable teaching materials
on refugees, asylum, migration and statelessness. The information
includes professional development and guidance for primary and secondary
school teachers on including refugee children in their classes.
It contains basic explanations of the different situations of refugees
and migrant children, with emphasis on animated sequences. Extensive
age-specific teaching materials are also available online and to download.
There is also guidance on how to identify and interact with children
experiencing migration-related stress and trauma. These
extremely well-designed and practical toolkits should be promoted
and translated widely.
These
extremely well-designed and practical toolkits should be promoted
and translated widely. 5. Conclusions and recommendations
40. Despite the present protracted
refugee situation, education for people fleeing hardship is mostly financed
from emergency funds, which does not encourage long-term investment
in sustainable policies. In most countries, refugee education does
not feature in national development plans or in education sector planning,
even though according to my research some of the larger refugee-hosting
countries are working to reverse this trend. According to the Fundamental
Rights Agency, for instance, most EU member States increased their
budgets and human resources for education in response to the migration
crisis in 2015/16. However, support in some member States depends
on project-based funding.
41. In addition, refugees’ educational access and attainment are
not usually tracked through national monitoring systems, meaning
that refugee children and youth are not only disadvantaged, but
their educational needs and achievements often remain invisible.
42. In Europe, delivering quality education in line with countries’
international undertakings is a challenge which is a long way from
being fulfilled and which reveals as many disparities as there are
differences in the reception and integration conditions offered.
Compulsory education is one of the most important implementing tools
for giving priority to the best interests of the child as developed
in many of the Parliamentary Assembly’s recent reports. This report
endeavours to outline the main constituent requirements for primary
(and secondary) education for migrant and refugee children.
43. In addition, host countries need to take more account of the
experiences of migrant and in particular refugee children. Traumatised
children in most European countries have access to some form of
psychological support, but this support does not specifically target
children with a refugee background. Support in formal education
contexts which does take account of multiple trauma in individual
children is rarely available.
44. Alongside other types of care and assistance, and especially
immediate and continued psychological assistance for children traumatised
by their experiences, providing quality education to refugee and
migrant children today will serve to prepare the Europe of tomorrow.
Failing in this task can only lead to more crises and social upheaval.
The recommendations in the draft resolution also stress the vital
importance of education for promoting peaceful co-existence in the
future.