As part of the LLLWeek, SIRIUS joined the MAXIPac closing event which took place the 1st of December in Brussels.
The Lisbon Recognition Convention says that all countries should develop procedures to assess whether refugees and displaced persons fulfil the relevant requirements for access to higher education or to employment activities, even in cases in which the qualifications cannot be proven through documentary evidence. Regardless of that, in reality this letter has not been applied in most cases, and to this day third-country nationals often face a lot of challenges in the recognition of their requalifications. The MAXIPac project aims to fill this gap, by closely working with universities and academics to create and implement a uniform procedure to valorise previously acquired competences of third-country nationals by universities.
As part of the final event, Sevak Khachatryan, SIRIUS co-chair, participated in the panel discussion “How can universities, non-governmental organisations and policy-makers contribute to more inclusive European higher education?”. He highlighted the responsibility of universities in the inclusion of TCNs in higher education, as well as the importance of including migrants and refugee students in the development of these types of projects, acknowledging their agency and right to participate in processes that directly affect to their future.
