Find below the final report with the final policy recommendations of our project Young Migrants Can Achieve Change.
This document explains the whole process that the project developed in order to get to the final results and recommendations. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the report.
*This content reflects only the author’s view and the European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
SIRIUS was well-represented in the recent working group on Equality and Values with board and working group member Barry Van Driel moderating a panel made up of SIRIUS member Forum for Freedom in Education (Croatia) and secretariat director Mialy Dermish, alongside with Ukrainian teacher and EuroClio. The panel discussed the challenges of segregation of refugee students with SIRIUS highlighting that although segregation may be undertaken in the vein of promoting stronger language acquisition and allowing new arrivals to understand and adapt to the education system before students are mainstreamed if it is not implemented well and segregates students for long periods of time (over 3 months) and it runs the challenge of contributing to societal segregation. FFFE highlighted many of the challenges of talking about war in the classroom and discussed how age of students, personal experience of teachers and their ability to first assess and digest their own emotions before broaching or responding to student’s questions and interests is of tantamount importance.
The working group meeting itself began with an emotional and detailed speech by a Ukrainian teacher, still working online with her students. The importance of keeping educational and social.
Border countries to Ukraine – what is SIRIUS doing?
On 3rd and 4th of May in Warsaw SIRIUS will take part in the Education International and ZNP (Polish teacher trade union) seminar education of Ukrainian refugees: a policy dialogue amongst refugee receiving jurisdictions where Polish, Slovakian, Hungarian, Moldovan, and Romanian representative will be present. Moderated by Executive Director Mialy Dermish, the seminar will hear from several jurisdictions about their current experiences and also from the Ministry of Education in Ukraine. In addition, we will also hear from International agencies and the SIRIUS network on specialized topics such as best practices for holistic refugee education and how to onboard new students within schools.
Photo from Marjan Blan I @marjanblan in Unsplash
Already for decades, European countries have ample experience receiving refugee children. The last peak was in the 1990s due to the civil war in former Yugoslavia, the war in Iraq and the political situation in Iran. Because of the most recent conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, between 2013 and 2015 no less than 613.395 youngsters under the age of eighteen applied for asylum (European Commission Education and Training Monitor 2016). Policy makers and practitioners across Europe are struggling to offer education to these new refugee children (EUROCITIES, 2017). Civil society organizations were often the first to provide language and educational support for refugee children. The coordination of the efforts of the different stakeholders (different local government bodies and civil society organizations) was often difficult to manage (Peer learning report Sweden). What can we learn from all these experiences, so that the children and young people arriving will not become a lost generation?
We found different models now used to incorporate refugee children in education. We roughly distinguish three:
Parallel school system: Refugee children are largely incorporated into a parallel school system (example Turkey).
Access to vocational school levels: Refugee children are included in the national education system but are largely streamed into the (lowest) vocational streams (examples are Germany, Flanders and the Netherlands)
Access to all school levels: Refugee children are included in the national education system, with the aim to stream them to all school levels (including the academic levels) according to their capabilities (example is Sweden).
In the policy brief we will show what refugee children need to be successful in school. We identified six major school arrangements that affect school success.
Free of costs pre-school places for the youngest refugee children to start to learn the second language early.
Sustained second language programs should be available from pre-school until upper-secondary school to accommodate children from all age groups. Teachers should get up-to-date second language teacher training and especially developed materials and methods.
For 16+ and 18+ students: Education should be available also after compulsory schooling (for instance adult education) if we want to prevent a lost generation. Stopping or only providing limited access to education beyond compulsory schooling is highly disruptive.
Short introductory classes, after which students are immersed into regular classes. Being placed for one or two years in welcome classes or international classes is detrimental to school success. Introductory classes should be connected to all secondary school levels (not just vocational education).
Additional support teachers should be assigned to follow up on children’s needs.
Direct access to English Master programs for students holding a BA, comparable to international
students.
An integrated approach is key, where these arrangements are linked together (See also the recommendations of European Commission Report: Study for educational support for newly arrived migrants, PPMI 2013). For example, short introductory programs can only be successful when combined with sustained second language support.
This policy brief is mainly focused on education measures, however other policies and factors that have an impact on the education chances and outcomes of refugee children and youngsters.
It is with great concern that SIRIUS, the Policy Network on Migrant Education, watches events unfold in Ukraine and surrounding countries. Our thoughts are with all those who are fleeing the war, those who have been forced to fight for their freedom, those seeking safety away from their homes and with the citizens of many countries including Russia and Belarus, who put themselves at risk publicly opposing this war.
SIRIUS urges EU member states to take all necessary steps to ensure that those seeking refuge in the EU receive the resources needed to continue the education of themselves and their children. We remind EU member states that European regulations require that children entering a Member State need to be included in education within three months (article 14 (2) Directive 2013/33/EU). Quality inclusive education, in an atmosphere of acceptance and respect, is crucial to offer migrants, refugees and their families hope, a path out of trauma and despair, a sense of self-worth and prospects for a future without oppression and violence.
Most of the displaced persons leaving Ukraine and seeking refuge elsewhere, are crossing into EU countries such as Poland, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary. Some are finding their way further into the EU. The 1951 UN Refugee Convention guarantees all refugees the right to education.
However, there are cases of selective discrimination and racism towards refugees crossing borders to certain EU countries where for example, refugees of colour (often students), LGBTI persons, Belarussian nationals fleeing political persecutions, and other groups are refused the entry. We condemn discrimination on any grounds and demand that all people fleeing the conflict area are treated equally and offered the necessary protection.
In addition, we call upon education authorities and schools in all European countries to ensure that empathy andcritical-thinking skills are employed in broaching the topic of this conflict at school in the framework of democratic citizenship and history education. We urge education institutions to ensure that no students, education personnel, or their families become prey to bullying or harassment in this context. We also encourage education authorities and governments of European countries to offer guidance and support materials on ‘how to talk about war’ so that communities do not suffer additional trauma. We highlight that teachers and other education personnel need to be better supported and equipped to meet the diverse needs of migrant students and to promote inclusion, diversity and intercultural dialogue in educational institutions.
Furthermore, we highlight that migrant and refugee teachers can be valuable for European education systems which are struggling with the lack of education personnel prepared for teaching additional students. SIRIUS invites EU member states to ensure the provision of fast track programmes and necessary continuous professional development so that qualified migrant and refugee teachers and other education personnel can work in the education systems of their host countries as quickly as possible.
Finally, given the urgency of the immediate situation, SIRIUS offers support to policymakers and practitioners to implement such actions and connect them with others who are experienced in these areas.
8th of March marks the International Women’s Day. From SIRIUS, we want to take our look to the current situation of girls in education in Afghanistan. It’s been six months since the Taliban took over the capital, Kabul, and the situation for girls and women haven’t changed much. Some schools for girls reopened in some regions, thanks to the pressure from the women’s teachers, but under certain conditions, as requiring women and girls to wear a burqa on their way to and from the school.
On the other hand, once those girls get graduated, they only have the options to work in health or education.
As SIRIUS we believe that these are not inclusive conditions to go through education for girls, and that there should be equity between every gender in terms of education.
We stand with women and girls from Afghanistan in their right for an inclusive and quality education.
Check out the campaign we created to support teachers and students migrating to Europe from Afghanistan: https://www.sirius-migrationeducation.org/positions-statements-campaigns/
Today, 25th of November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls by the United Nations.
Women in poorer countries have less access to education, which ends up, unfortunately in many cases in them having to migrate and being caught up in human trafficking and sex work. This is not a choice for them, but we can provide them with a choice. Improving education systems and offering quality education for everyone, not only in Europe but all around the world, can end this situation of violence against migrant women.
#25N #OrangeTheWorld
The 20th of June marks the World Refugee Day and for OBESSU and Sirius, this is an opportunity to raise awareness about the situation of refugees around the world but especially in Europe.
Since the refugee crisis started in 2011, Europe has witnessed a surge of arrivals arriving in the EU through the Mediterranean and overland through Southeast Europe. Many of them are minors, who reached the borders of our continent unaccompanied and fled from their homes due to war, famine, exploitation, poverty, climate change and other life-threatening circumstances.
Just in 2019, 13 800 asylum seekers applying for international protection in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) were considered to be unaccompanied minors, and in the peak of the migratory crisis, in 2015/2016, 170.000 unaccompanied children did; one out of ten children applying for asylum is unaccompanied. These minors have to face many barriers in order to be recognised and treated as such: many times they arrive in Europe without any kind of legal documents like passports or IDs. Legal and border authorities often do not trust the refugee’s declared age without proof, and Member States do not have in place the proper policies to support them and include them in their societies.
According to the European Pillar of Social Rights, principle 1: ‘’‘’Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.’’
The European Commission launched in December 2020 a Toolkit for inclusive early childhood education and care . In this toolkit they highlight the different dimensions that need to be implemented in order to provide high quality and inclusion for all children. This toolkit makes reference as well to the European Pillar of Social Rights (mentioned above) and it’s based on the policy recommendations that have been adopted by the EU Member States. This means that the toolkit it’s made by measures already adopted by different Member States or to be adopted.
If unaccompanied minors are denied the access to education and other basic rights, they will have to face multiple and challenging barriers to be able to keep moving forward. This includes the young people who reach our shores in hope of a better life. Because no one leaves their home and everything they love behind unless they have no other choice.
This is why, OBESSU and Sirius, we fight and advocate every day with our work for the right of any children to have access to quality education, no matter their background.
20.04.2020
Moving Educational Policy Forward After Covid-19 A SIRIUS Perspective
We are now several weeks into a ‘lockdown’ resulting in almost uniform school closures across the European Union. Several countries intend to start back at school this week or in early May. In an effort to support these countries and others still undergoing school closure, the SIRIUS Policy Network on Migrant Education has collaborated on this statement to produce guidance moving forward.
During this pandemic we have seen many Ministries of Education instruct schools to move to various forms of distance-learning. Yet availability of advice, tools, guidance and support to do so, as well as preparedness of schools to implement such a shift smoothly, has been very mixed. The OECD “Framework to guide a response to the Covid-19 Pandemic” reports that a large number of countries surveyed offered no initial guidance to “support the ongoing academic instruction of schools”. However, in many European Union countries we saw a slightly better response. Many countries are broadcasting educational programs on national television (Portugal, France, Belgium, Latvia, Serbia, Romania and more) and some countries have launched specific websites or worked with technological providers (Czech Republic, Romania) to deal with the delivery of educational content.
Some countries already had their educational content on-line (Estonia) whom, in particular have been key in sharing learnings from their past experiences with other countries. In addition, in some countries, the Ministry of Education has quickly produced tools and guidance for schools and has been active in supporting teacher implementation of digital learning (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Italy, Denmark and more.)
With all this work in place, the 2nd Education EU Council meeting on the Covid-19 pandemic held on 14th April 2020 demonstrated that the battle is not yet won when it comes to catering to the needs of vulnerable learners, including migrant students, and in general inclusive education. As mentioned by Blaženka Divjak, Croatian Minister of Science and Education, social equity and teacher support/development remain challenges for the group as a whole.
As a network of researchers, policy-makers and migrant-led initiatives, SIRIUS has been collecting information from their members on current practice. We have turned this into initial policy implications for both Member States and the European Union. We must use the lessons of this experience to improve and weave more resilience into our education systems thereby making them more inclusive for all.
Member State Level
Inspiring Practice
Individualised support
SIRIUS Member Don Bosco shared this from their Spanish Member Pinardi Federation of Social Platforms of the Community of Madrid.
“At Pinardi we work with all the members of the family…For this reason, the first days from our homes, an individualized follow-up was carried out on all the families to continue offering our accompaniment and to inform how to do it in a different way, to know their particular situation and to be able to support, as we have been doing until now: psychological support, educational and directed leisure ”, says Marta Raimundo, head of communication for the Pinardi Federation of Social Platforms of the Community of Madrid.
Policy Implication
Mainstream and expand the application of Individualised Education Plans
Many countries already employ an ‘Individualised Education Plan’ for students with special needs, such as learning needs or non-native language needs. These plans should include an element on communication between teachers and families/students during crises to ensure there is a regular check-in and support. The plans could also include a student or family-directed self- assessment of ‘readiness for distance learning’ including factors such as availability of a computer, tv, high-speed internet and a quiet desk area to work on.
Inspiring practice
Providing digital literacy lessons through phone calls
As SIRIUS member Terremondo, based in Italy has experienced, “some students and families have a low level of digital literacy and in some cases are unable to sign-up to the various services offered.” This means that students and parents of young students that are helping their children connect to the internet and use novel platforms are struggling to continue the learning experience.
Policy Implication
Improve school provision of digital literacy education for students AND parents (particularly parents of young children)
Whether part of a pandemic/school shut-down response plan or not, schools need to ensure that all students and in particular families have the digital skills to get their children online and learning on the first day of school shut-down. Parents may need non-native instruction or guidance and any guides or materials should be translated into all languages that are present within the school community. These sessions should also undertake the administrative aspects of students and families signing up to any services that can facilitate the regular communication between parents and the school and will be used during school closures.
Inspiring practice
Use of social media to keep up motivation with adolescents
SIRIUS member Don Bosco shared this from their partner in Italy.
“motivational initiatives through social networks which [adolescents and youth] can access privately, such as Instragram [have been successful] at the María Auxiliadora Foundation.”
Policy Implication
Ensure ‘understanding social-media’ is included in professional development for school social support workers and teachers.
Youth workers, school psychologists and educational social support personnel working with adolescents already have a strong understanding of the importance of peer and adult relationships in motivating adolescents. Moving this knowledge to the practical realm of how to use online social networks to positively impact motivation for adolescents will be critical in aiding these workers to continue their functions during times of digital learning. In-loco training and practice in regular school-time should occur.
Inspiring Practice
Recognising increased vulnerabilities in certain communities
Our member ETUCE reports that French Union SNES-FSU is lobbying the government for a solution that “does not unfairly penalise the students who [are] expected to sit exams this year, especially those in poorer or more vulnerable communities.”
Policy Implication
Providing opportunities for inclusive policy- making
Vulnerable students may struggle more in terms of exam preparation, pace of learning, access to computers and internet more than others during this time. Member states should ensure that the voices of vulnerable students including migrant students and families are included in decision-making at this present time.
Inspiring Practice
Activating peer networks for non-native speakers
The nature of on-line interaction can make it challenging for non-native speakers, particularly young children to get enough ‘talk- time’ and ‘listen-time’ with peers to continue the improvement of the native/medium of instruction language. Our member Terremondo worked to connect non-native peers with native-speaking peers to ensure that they have a higher opportunity to interact socially in the native language.
Policy Implication
Foster an on-line whole school community approach
Schools provide a rich socio-linguistic feeding ground for non-native students to integrate. Being cut off from this environment has adverse linguistic and educational impacts. Fostering a whole school online community approach within schools (peer relationships, mentoring) builds real relationships both on- line and in person that can become a necessary life-line for students and families when schools close.
The nature of on-line interaction can make it challenging for non-native speakers, particularly young children to get enough ‘talk- time’ and ‘listen-time’ with peers to continue the improvement of the native/medium of instruction language. Our member Terremondo worked to connect non-native peers with native-speaking peers to ensure that they have a higher opportunity to interact socially in the native language.
EU Level Actions
Inspiring Practice
Providing computers and devices to students and families in need.
Our member Minderheden Forum in Belgium, and many other migrant organisations (HumanAid in Vinius, Lithuania) are providing laptops and digital devices to migrant students who do not have them.
Policy Implication
Utilise Digital Education Action Plan to mobilize funding for hardware for schools (and families) in need.
Action 1 of the plan discusses financing and vouchers for connectivity but not hardware for schools. Hardware could also be discounted or vouchers made available so that schools are able to allow students from vulnerable backgrounds to continue learning at home during non-school time and in the future event of school closures. Current data from PISA (2018) shows that there is a significant difference between the educational attainment of students who have a computer at home that they can access for learning and students who do not. 
Inspiring Practice
Recognise the social divide, not just digital
While it is recognized that the digital divide is a massive barrier to educational equity both from the perspective of technology in schools and technology in homes (Despite a 15 billion euro investment in the period 2014-2020, the goal of providing high-speed internet in all homes in the EU (necessary for streaming on- line classes) will not be met by the end of this year.) As seen above, all our members across the EU are actively working hard to access those that are socially excluded from the digital learning experience.
Policy Implications
Lead on social equity
We encourage the European Commission to lead on true equity in education by adding an additional point on their Digital Education Action Plan to recognize the importance of overcoming the social divide.
Inclusive education means that each learner has their strengths, challenges, and personal set of circumstances. It means that methods used to reach each student and deliver content need to be adapted to their particular situation. More well-funded user-centred/led research with migrant and vulnerable students and families at the heart should be funded. 
Inspiring Practice
Estonia Ministry of Education and Online Incentivise forward-looking responses, rather preparedness than isolated reacting
Our member PRAXIS in Estonia shared the following details on Estonia’s smooth move to digital education during this pandemic. “When schools in Estonia switched to the remote-learning system on 16 March 2020, the number of users of e-learning platforms increased by ten folds. The smooth transfer was ensured by regular use of national electronic homework diaries/communication points eSchool and Stuudium by all schools. Investment for good internet connection, development of electronic study materials and development of teachers ́ digital skills benefited the situation. Over the past years, the schools have been able to apply for funds to develop the areas where their school needs most support – from obtaining computers and training teachers to composing strategic plans for IT developments.”
Policy Implications
The EU should incentivise Member States to prepare an education system shut-down plan which not only includes actions related to the move to digital learning but guides local education authorities, schools, school directors, teachers and other school support staff on their domains of responsibility for future shut-down occurrences. The plans should encourage all parties to work together and build on the resilience that has already been weaved into the system through the Covid-19 response by ensuring inclusive policy-making occurs.
Sources
A framework to guide education response to the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020
https://www.hm.ee/sites/default/files/framework_guide_v1_002_harward.pdf
Education ministers discussed the challenges of the distance learning
https://eu2020.hr/Home/OneNews?id=243
Soluciones Originales Compromiso Esfuerzo Frente La Crisis La Covid-19
https://psocialessalesianas.org/soluciones-originales-compromiso-esfuerzo-frente-la-crisis-la-covid-19/
Il Coronavirus ci mette tutti alla prova
https://www.salesianiperilsociale.it/noicisiamo/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=messaggio-don- roberto-coronavirus&utm_term=post-organico
PISA data explorer
https://pisadataexplorer.oecd.org/
Broadband in the EU Member States: despite progress, not all the Europe 2020 targets will be met
https://op.europa.eu/webpub/eca/special-reports/broadband-12-2018/en/
