Background:

The Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027 recognises schools as hubs of integration for children and their families and highlights the need for EU Member States to ensure that migrant children have access to quality education, equipped to serve culturally and linguistically diverse children. As a result, several initiatives and measures have been implemented at the European level to enhance access to quality education for migrant children.

Acknowledging the importance of ensuring effective access to education for migrant children, this ad hoc query seeks to collect information on existing practices that assist migrant children, aged 6-18 in adapting to different cultural environments in primary and secondary schools, thereby improving their access to education. This ad hoc query focuses on systematic measures at the national level.

Respondents:

26 EMN Member and Observer Countries provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the ad hoc query results shows that:  

• The great majority of EMN Member and Observer countries provide support measures at the national level for migrant children to help them adapt to the different cultural environment in primary and secondary schools. The most common measure is support to learn the local language(s). This language support may be provided either in parallel to regular lessons (e.g. AT), or through preparatory, bridging, or transition classes designed to prepare children for entry into mainstream education (e.g. BE). Psychosocial support is also provided to help migrant children adjust to a different educational environment in several countries.
• The majority of responding EMN Member Countries and the Republic of Serbia take targeted measures to strengthen teachers’ intercultural and psychosocial competencies in supporting migrant children. The most common intervention is teacher training, followed by the provision of specific educational materials. In several countries, these tools and training programs were introduced in response to the arrival of Ukrainian children (e.g. BG).
• Only a few EMN Member countries specifically monitor the level of academic performance of migrant children, comparing their results with those of native children. For instance, in FI, migrant children participate in evaluations of learning outcomes by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC), which measure the achievement of objectives as set in the national core curriculum for different subject and their results can be compared to those of native children.
• Countries have identified several challenges in supporting the adaptation of migrant children to different cultural environments in schools. These include, for instance, language barriers, differences between educational systems, lack of qualified teachers, concentration of migrant children in specific schools, and early identification of special educational needs.
• The good practices identified by responding countries mostly relate to measures taken to counteract the challenges described above. FI, MT and PT reported the active involvement of parents and other caregivers in the educational integration of their children as good practice. EE and LV shared positive experiences with the appointment of beneficiaries of temporary protection (or other legally staying third-country nationals) as teachers or support staff.

For more information, please read the Inform attached above, and for further details, refer to the compilation of responses also attached.