Ei-iE

Lagadikia, Greece - August 25, 2016 | Image credit: verve231, iStock
Lagadikia, Greece - August 25, 2016 | Image credit: verve231, iStock

Education for inclusion: promoting the rights of migrants and refugees

Spotlight

Education is a human right yet is it out of reach for millions of refugees and migrants across the world. Be it in camps along the way or in their new host countries, displaced children and young people face innumerable hurdles in accessing education.

Migrant and refugee teachers also face often unsurmountable barriers. Despite being highly skilled and experienced, many migrant and refugee teachers are not given the opportunity to practice their profession in their host country.

We advocate for inclusive education systems and school communities where migrants and refugees feel welcome and all students can learn together and reach their full potential. For this to happen, governments must support educators so that they can help each and every student to truly thrive.

We also call for the accreditation and recognition of the qualifications of foreign qualified teachers, to allow them to pursue their teaching career following displacement or migration.

Video

Educators are mobilising for the rights of migrants and refugees. Join us!

9 December 2020

Education for inclusion – what can educators and their unions do

  1. Equity and inclusion

    Promoting integration of migrants and refugees in and through education: Toolkit

    10 December 2018

    Education unions are defending the right to learn and to teach of newcomers. They develop advocacy to promote more inclusive schools in the context of increasingly diverse communities and in reaction to the rise of populist anti-immigration political forces. These strategies and practical actions are now compiled in a new...

    Promoting integration of migrants and refugees in and through education: Toolkit
    1. Download
  2. Equity and inclusion

    How to use our toolkit on promoting the integration of migrants and refugees in and through education

    10 November 2018

    Do you want to know more about migration and education? How do you include refugees and newcomers in your classroom? How can you help promote inclusion in society through education? Check our video-tutorial, based on our toolkit for educators.

Our work to promote inclusion in education for migrants and refugees

  1. Equity and inclusion 19 June 2023

    World Refugee Day: The imperative to save lives and give hope

    The recent shipwreck in the Mediterranean that claimed hundreds of lives highlights once again the plight of those fleeing conflict, poverty, and persecution. Education International and education unions around the world call on all governments to respect the rights of all refugees without discrimination of any kind. Lives must be...

    Read more World Refugee Day: The imperative to save lives and give hope
  2. Leading the profession 11 April 2023

    EI solidarity mission to Türkiye: Educators and unionists on the frontlines

    An Education International delegation visited the earthquake-affected area in Turkiye, meeting with teachers, unionists, volunteers, and local leaders to deliver a message of solidarity and convey condolences for the terrible losses suffered, but also to take stock of the scale of the destruction and the needs on the ground in...

    Read more EI solidarity mission to Türkiye: Educators and unionists on the frontlines
  3. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 15 February 2023

    Overwhelmed, undervalued, and underpaid: Governments must act to support teachers in contexts of displacement

    Aloyo Stella Oryang

    Working as a teacher in an emergency situation is challenging but it can also be very rewarding. The opportunity to be a positive influence on my students, watching a student learn, grow and become a good person, knowing that I can be part of this process gives me a wonderful...

    Read more Overwhelmed, undervalued, and underpaid: Governments must act to support teachers in contexts of displacement
  4. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 18 December 2022

    Refugee Education: Key Tensions and Opportunities

    Maysa Jalbout, Katy Bullard

    Refugee education is more critical than ever. Centering refugee voices and resolving key tensions in policy and programming will be critical for ensuring that all refugee students and teachers receive the support they need. Teachers’ unions can play an important role in these processes, connecting refugee teachers to valuable services,...

    Read more Refugee Education: Key Tensions and Opportunities
  5. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 26 July 2022

    Refugee teachers are key to overcoming the teacher shortage and transforming education

    Refugee teachers play a crucial role in their communities. However, oftentimes they do not receive the support they need and face unsurmountable barriers to continuing their career in their host country.

    Read more Refugee teachers are key to overcoming the teacher shortage and transforming education
more: Our work to promote inclusion in education for migrants and refugees

Publications and resources

  1. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4

    Education of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in the Context of COVID-19: The Education for Life Project in Uganda and South Sudan

    15 March 2021

    The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated education systems, communities, and economies across Africa and globally. The health crisis has seriously affected the education, health and well-being of refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Uganda, South Sudan and across the continent.

    Education of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in the Context of COVID-19: The Education for Life Project in Uganda and South Sudan
    1. The Education for Life Project in Uganda and South Sudan
    2. Lições do Projeto de Educação para a Vida no Uganda e Sul do Sudão
  2. Equity and inclusion

    Promoting integration of migrants and refugees in and through education: Toolkit

    10 December 2018

    Education unions are defending the right to learn and to teach of newcomers. They develop advocacy to promote more inclusive schools in the context of increasingly diverse communities and in reaction to the rise of populist anti-immigration political forces. These strategies and practical actions are now compiled in a new...

    Promoting integration of migrants and refugees in and through education: Toolkit
    1. Download
  3. Equity and inclusion

    Education: Hope for newcomers in Europe

    Nihad Bunar
    28 February 2018

    The aim of this volume is to bring together experiences from four European countries, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, on how they have organised the reception of newly-arrived children in their schools, which challenges they face, what are the opportunities, where the support comes from and it has failed to...

    Education: Hope for newcomers in Europe
    1. Download
  4. Equity and inclusion

    The journey of hope: Education for refugee and unaccompanied children in Italy

    Sonia Grigt
    30 November 2017

    The Italian legal framework provides a high level of protection for asylum-seeking and unaccompanied minors and a noticeably inclusive approach concerning the integration of these children into the education system. That said, recent developments of the immigration legal framework concerning unaccompanied minors and its impact on the fulfilment of their...

    The journey of hope: Education for refugee and unaccompanied children in Italy
    1. The journey of hope
    2. Il viaggio della speranza
  5. Equity and inclusion

    Spain: Hope through diversity

    Begoña López Cuesta
    29 November 2017

    Spanish legislation provides for the right of refugees to education and international protection. In practice, however, the absence of a legal framework and institutional infrastructure specifically designed to identify the needs of this target group and provide an appropriate response runs counter to this formal recognition.

    Spain: Hope through diversity
    1. Download
more: Publications and resources

Our policy