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The fundamental human right to education for refugees: Some legal remarks
Abstract
The aim of this article is to describe the human rights obligations a State bears in educational matters with concerns to the current influx of refugees. The right to education is a fundamental human right guaranteed by many international treaties. As a result, the impression may arise that everyone, not only legal citizens but also all those lacking legal documents, can easily refer to any of these texts in order to enforce access to education and every right attached to education. The legal truth is however more complex. This article will first examine the various international legal texts: do refugees fall within the scope of application? Second, we will take a closer legal look at some issues often raised in practice when dealing with the influx of refugees: (i) can higher school fees be asked from pupils without legal documents? (ii) do refugees have a right to be taught in their own native language until they learn to speak the national language? and (iii) can they be placed in special (separate) schools or classes until they can follow the regular curriculum?
... What is less clear is how to ensure these rights are carried out at the school level. In contrast to what are called first-generation rightstypically civic and political rights such as the right to free speechrights related to education are understood as second generation rights, which refer to the social, cultural, and economic rights that require positive action to be ensured by states (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). In many cases the historical and current political, cultural, and social realities of each state play an important role in the manner in which these rights are ensured (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). ...
... In contrast to what are called first-generation rightstypically civic and political rights such as the right to free speechrights related to education are understood as second generation rights, which refer to the social, cultural, and economic rights that require positive action to be ensured by states (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). In many cases the historical and current political, cultural, and social realities of each state play an important role in the manner in which these rights are ensured (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). In Europe, for example, questions as to whether refugee students can be assessed additional fees, have a right to education in their native language, or can/should be placed in a separate learning environment provide examples of how the securing of second generation rights on the ground remain topics of social, cultural, and legal debate (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). ...
... In many cases the historical and current political, cultural, and social realities of each state play an important role in the manner in which these rights are ensured (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). In Europe, for example, questions as to whether refugee students can be assessed additional fees, have a right to education in their native language, or can/should be placed in a separate learning environment provide examples of how the securing of second generation rights on the ground remain topics of social, cultural, and legal debate (Willems & Vernimmen, 2017). ...
Schools function as a primary driver of integration and as a link to resources and assets that promote healthy development. Nevertheless, most research studies on school-based programs are conducted on mainstream students, and school professionals looking to deliver interventions serving refugee students are forced to choose between evidence-based programs designed for the mainstream and developing new programs in the cultural framework of their students. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a summary of recent research on successful, evidence-based programs as well as promising interventions and practice recommendations in five core practice areas in schools: school leadership and culture, teaching, mental health, after-school programming, and school-parent-community partnerships. These findings are presented drawing from theoretical frameworks of ecological systems, social capital, segmented assimilation, resilience, and trauma, and describe how such theories may be used to inform programs serving refugee children and youth. Additionally, this review describes the core components of successful programs across these practice areas to inform researchers and practitioners as they select and develop programs in their own school communities. Finally, this review concludes with a discussion of human rights in the education of refugee children and youth.
... Hosting countries, in their turn, are also portrayed in different ways. On one hand, they are presented as suffering from dealing with the burden of refugee arrivals through processing their documents and supporting the refugees (Willems and Vernimmen, 2018). On the other hand, they are explicitly portrayed as oppressors in the cases when some of them build fences, their border police exercise violence towards asylum seekers, prohibit attempts to rescue drowning refugees in the sea or refuse the refugee status and send the people back to their home country where their life is endangered (Kugiel, 2016;Khiabany, 2016). ...
... It also states that 'The contracting states shall accord to refugees treatment as favourable as possible, and, in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the same circumstances with respect to education other than elementary education'. There is a range of other international treaties that advocate the right of refugees to education, according to Willems and Vernimmen (2018), such as: European Social Charter (1961), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Despite these measures in place: ...
This feature provides a brief account of the contemporary context of forced migration globally and the issues around education for refugees who have fled their home countries and live in exile. This discussion is informed by Paulo Freire’s ideas of oppression and liberation and suggests that refugees live in the context of oppression, which stems from the forced migration and may continue through education provision in host communities. While the generosity of the hosts in this provision should be recognised, the lack of refugees’ agency in this provision is the factor linked to oppression.
... As argued elsewhere (see Unangst et al., 2022), there are several rationales undergirding the provision of higher education for displaced groups. These include the student equity argument, which draws from a critical lens to reform educational processes that have historically excluded groups on the basis of class, gender, race, ethnicity, and religion, among other (essentialist) identity markers (e.g., Brett, 2014;Korntheuer et al., 2018); the humanitarian argument, which draws from elements of the United Nations human rights architecture to underscore obligations to uphold agreed-upon protections among member states (e.g., Bhabha, 2002;Willems & Vernimmen, 2018); the diplomatic (or security) argument, emphasizing that tertiary attainment among displaced groups supports the future rebuilding of conflict states; the internationalization at home argument, which calls for attention to international/intercultural communities in any given national context (e.g. Hudzik, 2011;Leask, 2015); and finally, the economic argument, which points to short-and long-term advantages to the host or receiving country accrued by moderately or highly skilled displaced groups as well as economic benefit through remittances (e.g., Bahar, 2018;Lenette et al., 2019;World Bank, 2019;Wright & Plasterer, 2012). ...
Building upon a growing attention to the intersection of displacement and alternative higher education pathways, this paper probes how the current literature addresses Prior Learning Assessment serving displaced learners.
... Schooling is crucial for refugee students' adaptation and sense of belonging in their host country (Maadad and Yilmaz 2021). The right to education, a fundamental human right, is protected by international treaties, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNHCR 1989;Willems and Vernimmen 2018). However, as Drolia et al. (2020) note, refugee students are highly heterogeneous in terms of origin, language, education, life experiences, and legal status, making their education complex. ...
Over the past few years, the number of students from refugee backgrounds in Australia has been on the constant rise. Most youths with refugee background have had a range of traumatic experiences that compound the difficulties in adjusting to a new country and school system. This paper presents a study undertaken with students from refugee backgrounds and their teachers. Based on a qualitative approach, the study employed questionnaires (for teachers and students with refugee experiences), follow-up and focus group interviews (with the students). The project explored the academic and emotional issues that the students experience when adjusting to high school and the support they receive at school to cope with their transition. Results showed that students with refugee backgrounds experience a variety of difficulties and barriers to success that are often not recognised. Teachers indicated that there was a significant relationship between English language skills and academic achievement, recommended the provision of more efficient and flexible future pathways for older students and more time and resources to cater for the emotional and academic (particularly literacy) needs of their students. These findings highlight the need for greater efforts to meet the diverse needs of high school students from refugee backgrounds. ARTICLE HISTORY
... Including refugee children in education and the school community implements fundamental human and child rights (Willems and Vernimmen, 2018), and supports their adaptation and development (Biasutti et al., 2020;Block et al., 2014;Horswood et al., 2019;McDiarmid et al., 2022;Terhart and von Dewitz, 2018). Creating optimal conditions at school enhances psychosocial and physical functioning, supports well-being, life satisfaction and strengthens self-efficacy and self-esteem, constructive social behaviour, and a commitment to learning, achievements and aspirations (Arnot et al., 2009;Makarova et al., 2019;Warriner et al., 2020). ...
Introduction: Culturally homogenous Poland changed from the 24th of February 2022 due to high numbers of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion. Research Aim: The aim of the study was to explore Polish school teachers’ lived experiences of teaching Ukrainian refugee students. Research Method: Having applied an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis we conducted nine focus groups with a sample of fifty-two teachers. Results: Two superordinate themes, Rewards and Challenges, were identified during the analytical process. The findings give voice to teachers’ perspectives on the issues impacting them. The findings shed light on student and teacher needs and the interactions between teachers, students and the host school environment which helped build understanding between the two communities. Conclusion: The findings can inform teacher education and practice, policy and services that enhance the experiences of both teachers and their students.
... Fundamental human rights concern was also identified as one of the key issues as far as discourse on modification and validity of certain cultural practices of the Kulango people are concerned. without a doubt, the world is witnessing the universalization of human dignity (Mutua, 2017;weiler, 1995;willems & vernimmen, 2018). internationally accepted laws are focused on the demands for the freedom of individuals, thereby challenging the validity and acceptability of some culture-specific state practices. ...
Modernization and Western religious beliefs have rendered most cherished African beliefs and ways of living obsolete. The current study investigated the social control mechanism of the Kulango people of Ghana, taking into consideration the role of Christianity and modernization. Through a qualitative case study approach, data were gathered from 10 old-aged Indigenous Kulango people. The findings revealed that the primary means of controlling human behaviour in the context of the Kulango people included the various forms of taboos, some of which were related to natural resources, and rites of passage that are meant to transition people from one stage of life to another. It was revealed, however, that the emergence of formal education, conformity with human rights principles, and people’s allegiance to Christianity have incapacitated the functioning of most of the social control mechanisms of the people.
... Various additions to the above convention and subsequent agreements confirmed the right of refugee children to have equal rights to education (Willems and Vernimmen 2018). Most EU countries have taken measures for the education of refugees, following Directive 2013/33/EU of the European Parliament. ...
In recent years, refugee flows in Europe have increased dramatically. The need to have an education policy that would effectively address the problem of education and inclusion of refugee students automatically arose. Important educational tools to achieve this goal are the use of cultural heritage and digital media. The cultural heritage became the basis on which many educational projects were developed, aimed at the integration and meaningful inclusion of refugee students. Also, new technologies and digital media provide the opportunity for a modern and attractive use of culture for the smooth integration of refugee students in the school environment. However, how they can be used in combination in refugee inclusion has not yet been studied as much as it should be. The study presented in this article aims to investigate whether the use of cultural heritage through digital media can contribute to the inclusion of refugees. Also, in a second phase, it examines whether the involvement of social media in the whole process can create stronger—permanent bonds between refugees and local students. Our research suggests that the use of digital media to highlight the cultural heritage of refugees can positively contribute to their inclusion.
... Empathy and the ability to organise support using the resources of the class, school, and the local environment are crucial (Biasutti et al., 2020). Teachers also need the competencies to activate the students' potential by including them in all forms of social activity (Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). Creative and constructivist methods are useful for implementing this task since they create openness to communicate and share personal experiences, which is not always possible using language (Makarova et al., 2019). ...
Teaching refugee students in inclusive classrooms is challenging for Polish teachers as the number of these students in schools has dramatically increased. This research aimed to explore Polish teachers’ experiences with adapting their teaching process for these students. An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was used, and 30 teachers participated in six focus group interviews. Two themes were identified in the analysis: 1) collaboration with others, 2) essential elements of direct work with students: communication; didactic aids; teaching methods; learning content; and learning objectives. Several recommendations for teaching practice are made.
... Dengan demikian, pendidikan harus dapat diakses oleh semua orang dari semua lapisan masyarakat agar mereka dapat berkontribusi dan mencapai pada keberhasilan tujuan kelima SDG's, yaitu pendidikan yang berkualitas (UNESCO, 2015), sehingga semua lapisan masyarakat memiliki kesetaraan dan persamaan terkait hak dalam mengakses pendidikan dimanapun mereka berada (Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). Supardi (2015) menegaskan, fasilitas pendidikan untuk warga atau masyarakat Indonesia sejatinya merupakan tanggung jawab dari negara dan telah diatur dalam Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 Pasal 31, yang menyatakan bahwa setiap warga negara mempunyai hak mendapatkan pendidikan. ...
Limited access to formal education coupled with the lack of teaching staff at the Sekolah Indonesia Kuala Lumpur (SIKL) study center has an impact on the decreased interest and motivation to study for children of migrant workers, especially those at the Pusat Pendidikan Warga Negara Indonesia (PPWNI) in the Klang region of Malaysia. This community service activity aims to help teachers at PPWNI Klang increase student learning motivation. Community service activities take the form of student learning assistance by involving Muhammadiyah Surakarta University students who take part in the Overseas KKN-Dik program. The learning methods applied during the learning assistance activities consist of 5 (five) stages, namely: (1) direct learning assistance to students on some subject matter which most students find difficult to understand, such as subjects: Mathematics, English, Science, and Physical Education; (2) discussion and question and answer; (3) Ice Breaking; (4) the method of giving interesting and fun quizzes to motivate student learning that is oriented towards the subject matter; and (5) giving rewards in the form of praise (oral) or gifts (goods). The results of this community service activity showed an increase in students' interest and motivation in learning, in addition to the observational data on 50 randomly selected students stated that learning assistance by involving students provided inspiration and students' interest in the world of education so that all students were interested in continuing their studies. higher education level. In addition, students increasingly understand the importance of education, especially in achieving future goals.
... Yet academics and practitioners assert that the realization of this right to education in the midst of a refugee crisis remains questionable, particularly in low-or middle-income countries (UNESCO, 2019). Scholarly findings in refugee education often appear in legal studies to highlight the issues in relation to enforceability of the right to education in emergencies (Anderson et al., 2011;Hamadeh, 2019;Nicolai et al., 2015;Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). They present the international legal instrument relevant for education, linking with policy frameworks such as MDGs and EFA as well as highlighting challenges at national, regional and international levels (Anderson et al., 2011). ...
... It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. Education, as a basic human right, is seen as a bridge to achieving other sustainable development (Willems et al. 2018). Education provides a person with knowledge and skills to take advantage of economic and lifelong learning opportunities (Sen 2003) and is a key factor in increasing human capital (Wantchekon et al. 2015). ...
This body of work is situated in the fields of diversity and inclusion broadly within the discipline of education. It presents scholarship about Indigenous/First nations peoples, students with dis/abilities, Giftedness, International relations, Geographical index, Parents as teachers, Immigration, and non-traditional students, across all sectors of education, from Early Childhood to Tertiary education. Given that mainstream understandings of diversity and inclusion has been shaped from within behavioural / medical norms traditionally, superficial / stereotypical understandings of the experiences surrounding students, teachers, parents, and community members and the strategies for participation have come to permeate educational discourses (Bentley-Williams & Morgan, 2013; Bhopal & Rhamie, 2014; Buckelew & Fishman, 2010). This has resulted diversity and inclusion being viewed as a deficit remedial process, rather than one that champions opportunities, individualism, and success (Davis & Museus, 2019; Gale et al., 2017).
As an edited collection of critical discourse contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each of the chapters speaks to the importance of educational diversity in achieving Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. The strong grounding narrative of equitable learning opportunities and experiences is woven throughout the edited collection via interpretivist theoretical frameworks and student-centred methodologies, such as Poststructuralism, Critical Discourse Theory, Autoethnography, Self-determination theory, Ethnography, Design-based research, Autobiography, the Cultural Interface, Phenomenology, Narrative Inquiry, Theory of change, and Case Study design. The combination of these approaches, combined within the strong and scholarly-informed social justice lens, permeates the collective narrative to showcase the intersectionality of diversity and inclusion, strength of interpretivist perspectives, and robustness of qualitative and mixed-methods designs, within the social science arena (Moon et al., 2019).
The major contribution that this book makes to the field of education is the amalgamation of various specialized fields of diversity and inclusion to create a holistic discourse around the experiences, interrogations, and innovations occurring within diverse education communities. The main benefit that readers will derive from this edited collection is a deeper and more holistic understanding of the intersectionality of diversity and inclusion existing within contemporary educational settings. As Thomas et al. (2021), such understanding is urgently needed to “redress simplistic views to inform positive social change at the individual, structural, and organisational levels” (p.2). A subsidiary benefit offered up by this book is the elevation of diversity and inclusion from a space of inattention and deficit to one of celebratory foregrounding and success (Pennington, 2020).
... The humanitarian argument, in turn, draws from elements of the United Nations human rights architecture including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in emphasizing obligations to uphold agreedupon protections among member states and specifically signatories to the relevant agreements (Bhabha, 2002;Inter-Agency, 2001;Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). Further, there is the diplomatic (sometimes elucidated as the security) sub-argument: that educating displaced groups supports the future reconstruction of current conflict states and thereby the prevention of future conflict. ...
... These forms and mechanisms of protection in refugee education continue to be limited by legal and rights-based frameworks that struggle to address local forms of harms in the everyday experiences of education. This challenge is not unique to education, but applies across social rights, which are to be progressively realized and depend on positive action by governments at all levels, allocation of funding, and mechanisms of enforcement (see, e.g., Somers and Roberts 2008; and as related to refugees, Willems and Vernimmen 2018). In addition, recent research points to ways in which legal and rights-based frameworks centered on non-discrimination can result in standardized approaches to refugee education (Dryden-Peterson et al. 2019) that do not reflect the nuance of General Comment 13 of the ICESCR on the Right to Education, which emphasizes the availability, accessibility, acceptability, and adaptability of education (Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights 1999, General Comment No 13 (n 30) para 8). ...
This article examines why and how teachers of refugees enact protection by engaging with local forms of harm facing their refugee students. Through portraits of two classrooms in Jordan, we describe the relationships that form between Jordanian teachers and Syrian students, and the protection practices teachers develop in response. We propose a more comprehensive conceptualization of protection in refugee education that layers socio‐political protection on legal and rights‐based protection commonly embedded in humanitarian activities.
... The humanitarian argument, in turn, draws from elements of the United Nations human rights architecture including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in emphasizing obligations to uphold agreedupon protections among member states and specifically signatories to the relevant agreements (Bhabha, 2002;Inter-Agency, 2001;Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). Further, there is the diplomatic (sometimes elucidated as the security) sub-argument: that educating displaced groups supports the future reconstruction of current conflict states and thereby the prevention of future conflict. ...
Higher education for displaced students is rarely the focus of academic literature in the context of the United States, despite 79.5 million people displaced worldwide as of December 2019 and 3 million refugees resettled in the United States since the 1970s (UNHCR, 2020). An estimated 95,000 Afghans will be resettled in the US by September 2022, and the executive branch has requested $6.4 billion in funds from Congress to support this resettlement process (Young, 2021). This represents the most concentrated resettlement in the US since the end of the Vietnam War. It is therefore clear that policy supports for displaced students represent a pressing educational equity issue. This paper applies critical policy analysis to state-level policies supporting displaced students and argues that both data gaps and policy silence characterize the current state of play.
... Refugees who are recognised, receive a residence permit and are guaranteed the right to education by international treaties ratified by the three countries. While it is clear that compulsory education must be freely available for all children, the treaties are less clear about the rights of asylum seekers to attend upper-secondary and higher education (Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). In this section, we examine the legal rights of refugees to VET at the upper-secondary level in the three countries. ...
The International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET) is a double blind peer-reviewed journal for VET-related research. All articles published in 2021 are included in this book.
IJRVET is the official journal of VETNET (founded in 1996), the European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (umbrella organisation: EERA European Educational Research Association), supported by CINTERFOR (founded in 1963), the Centro Interamericano para el Desarrollo del Conocimiento en la Formación Profesional / Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (a technical service of OIT Organización International del Trabajo / ILO International Labour Organization).
... Refugees who are recognised, receive a residence permit and are guaranteed the right to education by international treaties ratified by the three countries. While it is clear that compulsory education must be freely available for all children, the treaties are less clear about the rights of asylum seekers to attend upper-secondary and higher education (Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). In this section, we examine the legal rights of refugees to VET at the upper-secondary level in the three countries. ...
Context: Vocational education and training (VET) plays a crucial role in the social inclusion of refugees. The aim of this paper is to examine how the VET systems of Austria, Denmark and Germany responded to the arrival of young refugees since 2015. VET in these countries are all categorised as systems of collective skill formation, which offer apprenticeships in addition to school-based training. The article examines and juxtaposes the legal rights, the actual opportunities and the barriers to refugees’ participation in and completion of VET at upper secondary level in the three selected countries.
Methods: The study is based on reviews of literature and an analysis of refugee policies in the three countries. The literature search used a snowballing strategy and included policy documents, research publications and grey literature from organisations of civil society. The literature review employed a narrative, issue-focused approach to explore and compare key categories relating to the research question. To elaborate, refine and structure the categories for each of the three countries we used an input-process-output model (Adams, 1993) and a combination of deductive and inductive analysis procedure.
Findings: The findings of the study are divided into six categories that structure the analysis: admission requirements, validation of prior learning, vocational guidance, language training, social support measures and access to apprenticeships. The analysis finds that both asylum seekers and recognised refugees have more opportunities in Germany than in the other two countries regarding the key categories. The findings show no major differences in the position of the social partners in the three countries in relation to refugees’ participation in VET, however the national governments reacted differently to the influx of refugees. In Austria and Denmark, new governments with strong anti-immigration agendas took office and reduced the access to and participation in VET for asylum seekers and refugees. At the same time, the German government introduced various integration measures for refugees in cooperation with employers with the aim of making VET more accessible to refugees.
Conclusion: To access and complete VET, refugees depend on supporting measures to overcome a variety of barriers, e.g. regarding language training and access to apprenticeships. Overall, reforms in Germany demonstrate promising initiatives to overcome the barriers to the integration of refugees in VET, while reforms in Austria and Denmark have limited refugees’ opportunities to access and complete VET.
... Immigrants are up to five times more likely to be unable to continue their education than other students (UNESCO & UNHCR, 2016). For this reason, it is important that countries develop effective policies to monitor the education of immigrants and ensure educational continuity for this vulnerable population (Willems & Vernimmen, 2018). International organizations such as UNICEF, OECD, and the World Bank emphasize the importance of education for migrants and provide application examples to ensure migrant adaptation through education (Jeon, 2019;Khunyu Khsioni, 2016;UNESCO, 2015;UNESCO, 2019). ...
Turkey currently hosts the largest amount of Syrian refugees with a population of around 3.9 million. Besides housing and health supports, Turkey has been doing its best to increase their schooling
ratio in the light of new legislation and laws. These efforts also include vocational education and training (VET) which has been a useful tool to ensure the adaptation of immigrants in many countries with flexible
solutions. In this study, we present and evaluate the VET projects carried out by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) for adaptation of Syrian refugees, considering the best practices and recommendations of international organizations. The results show that the MoNE projects correspond with international criteria by informing refugees about VET, preparing them for the educational process, facilitating their participation, and supporting them throughout their experiences.
... These rights are social, economic, and cultural rights, such as education, care, and health. Unlike first-generation rights (also called freedom or civic and political rights) that aim to protect individuals from state interference, second-generation human rights require the state to allocate public resources that are not always possible to offer (Willems and Vernimmen 2017). ...
Starting from a child rights-based approach to sustainable development, this contribution underlines and compares the discourses in selected Spanish and Swedish migration and education policies on the rights of unaccompanied minors to education and discusses their impact on the enactment of the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals in both countries. Based on critical discourse analysis, this research shows the co-existence of two different discourses: one on unaccompanied minors as global rights holders and the other on unaccompanied minors as foreign citizens. By describing unaccompanied migrant minors as citizens rather than children, international migration agreements make it possible for the Spanish and Swedish governments to deprioritize other international agreements on refugees’ rights, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, as child rights and sustainable development are mutually reinforcing, the negotiation of rights shows that there are obstacles to accomplishing rights-based Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the 2030 Agenda.
The major benefits of physical education participation by students are to provide them with holistic knowledge about physical activities, unearth their potential sporting talents, and also develop in them positive attitudes required for healthier lifelong participation in physical activities. Everyone especially students with disabilities in special schools should be encouraged to experience education systems that provide them with sound and healthy physical activity engagement as their deservedly human rights. This study, therefore, examined the underlying factors influencing students with disabilities’ participation in physical activities and sports. This study used a phenomenological research design to collect qualitative data using interviews with nine students with disabilities and three teachers in three public special schools. Participants interviewed were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The data collected were openly coded and constantly compared to obtain patterns and themes and were analyzed thematically. The findings of the study revealed inadequate disability-user-friendly sporting facilities and equipment, discriminatory attitudes towards disabilities and financial constraints as the major challenges. The results of this study augment the literature examining the underlying factors influencing physical activities and sports participation among students with disabilities. It was, therefore, recommended that authorities in education should prioritize physical education at special schools by providing disability-user-friendly sporting facilities and equipment, adequate and prompt financial support, good government policies, and education on positive attitudes to assist, educate, encourage, and improve students with disabilities participation in physical activities and sports.
The Council of the European Union, by an implementing decision on March 4, 2022, put into effect Directive No. 2001/55/EU of July 20, 2001, on minimum standards for the provision of temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and measures promoting the balancing of efforts between member states to receive such persons and solving the consequences thereof. The problems of exercising the right to education as a natural human right by persons granted temporary protection in the European Union are urgent. In view of the above, the purpose of the study was to address the unique aspects of exercising of the right to education by persons who were granted temporary protection in the member states of the European Union. The methodological basis of the research is the dialectical method and methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, modelling, system and functional approach, statistical, and formal legal. The paper defines that access to education for persons granted temporary protection in the European Union is provided for by Council Directive No. 2001/55/EU, according to which the member states of the European Union provide full access to the education system for all minors who were granted temporary protection status, on an equal basis with their citizens. It is noted that member states of the European Union may provide for restrictions on such access by the state education system. The specifics of the exercise of the right to education by these persons are also consolidated in the national legislation of EU member states. It was found that these states can provide for restrictions on access to the state education system. They also carry out procedures for recognising foreign diplomas, certificates, and other documents confirming the official qualifications of persons granted temporary protection. The practical value of the results obtained lies in the fact that they can be used to improve the legislation regulating the grounds and procedure for obtaining temporary protection for persons forcibly displaced from Ukraine in EU member states, and the specifics of exercising the rights and obligations by persons with temporary protection
As the title of this chapter suggests, our objective is to highlight challenges faced by Afghan women with regard to access to tertiary education. More than four decades of sustained conflict have devastated Afghanistan’s education system (UNICEF 2019). For many children, even completing primary school remains a distant dream, especially in rural areas and particularly for females. According to UNICEF (2019), one of the key challenges for Afghanistan is the estimated two-thirds of the female population who key not currently attend school. While security in the country is deteriorating, the progress towards female enrolment in schools is also declining. As a result of the ongoing unrest, many Afghan families have fled their villages and are concentrated in cities where they live in poverty (Baiza 2013) and with little access to educational services. Yet, according to (UNESCO 2009), education is the most powerful weapon for bringing about positive change in the world. Moreover, increased participation of women in tertiary education is anticipated to lead to improved economic growth and stability (McLean 2020; UNICEF 2011). This chapter examines problems and potential solutions to Afghanistan’s current issues in relation to women’s access to tertiary education.
With increasingly protracted conflict and crisis situations and today’s sustainable development imperative, the global community is facing challenges in providing quality education to refugee learners. The article reflects on conventional approaches that have been adopted by the global stakeholders and questions whether the current state of refugee education is indeed educational. Based on Paulo Freire’s theoretical standpoint, the article draws on limitations of the dominant approaches in the field of refugee education. It argues that there needs to be an alternative view perceiving refugees beyond merely beneficiaries of educational interventions, and education beyond a tool for domestication.
For forcibly displaced people, high educational attainment is economically and socially empowering. Using experiences of African refugee youth in Australia as an empirical case and drawing on the capability approach to social justice, this paper aims to assess the substantiveness of education opportunities of refugees. Qualitative data were generated through policy review and semi-structured interviews. The analysis shows that not only are refugees invisible in equity policies, but educational inequality is also framed homogeneously as a lack of access. The restrictive framing disregards differences in people’s ability to convert resources into valuable outcomes. Specifically, the paper identifies four overlooked factors of educational inequality among African refugee youth: early disadvantage, limited navigational capacity, adaptive preferences, and racial stereotypes. Without an expansive view of disadvantage, it is hardly possible to break the link between marginal social position and low educational attainment of refugees.
This article highlights how migrant childrens’ rights to, and within, education can be negotiated at the national level. The aim is to underline and discuss the discourses that appear in selected Swedish legal and political documents relating to unaccompanied Afghan minors. Drawing on critical discourse analysis ( cda ), this research shows the co-existence of two different discourses on unaccompanied Afghan minors. The first discourse is based on the concept of unaccompanied Afghan minors as global rights holders and considers all children without exception as having the right to receive human assistance, education and appropriate protection against violence. The second discourse relates to the concept of unaccompanied Afghan minors as foreign citizens, which counteracts the work of Swedish authorities to deal with contradictions in policies assuring the rights of migrant children. This could also be a risk when the Convention on the Rights of the Child becomes Swedish law in 2020.
The study makes an analysis of the legal framework which Member States must take into account when designing their policies on citizenship education. The Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education of the Council of Europe and the international right to education are read in conjunction with EU law. Suitable content for the EU dimension in mainstream education is explored. A method for objective, critical and pluralistic EU learning is proposed, based on the Treaties and on case teaching (stories for critical thinking). Member States are invited to take more action to ensure quality education. The EU has the legal competence to support the EU dimension in education. In the present state of EU law, quality education is no longer conceivable without an EU dimension incorporated in various key competences.
At present the author works at the implementation of the ideas developed in the book as an Affiliated Senior Researcher at Leuven University (Case4EU-project in Belgium and other EU Member States).
Underpinned by Pierre Bourdieu and Abdelmalek Sayad’s sociological theories and Erving Goffman’s theory of social stigma, this study bridges the ideas of these three sociologists by examining the relationship of capital owning, stigma, migration and the strategies immigrant families build towards education around these notions. With the aim of exploring the role of education for refugee immigrants, the research area has been restricted to a specific city in the South-East of Turkey. The city, Diyarbakir, has been deliberately chosen for this study in terms of the value it holds for the immigrant group examined. As a method, interviews have been conducted in Diyarbakir with the aim of constructing a qualitative study. The data, in the form of interviews, used in this study has been collected within one month, which took place in November 2017. With the conducted interviews and the theoretical framework shaped, the immigrants are discussed through their assets, the conversion of different types of capital within the country of immigration, the recognized values deriving from similar ethnic identity shared with the majority in the city of immigration and the strategies they build towards the education system in Turkey. The scope of this study covers the school-aged children from any level, including students in higher education. Families’ perception of education plays a crucial role in their children’s education path as they build certain strategies towards it. Accordingly, this study explores how the Syrian immigrants in Turkey perceive education in relation to their different types of capital or lack of them. By doing so, the study concludes that the perception of the families in relation to their cultural capital and encountered stigma divides the social group explored through three main categorizes, namely the pragmatic, oblivious and resistant approaches they take towards the education system in Turkey. The study also argues that immigrant children’s education in Turkey acts as an impeding condition for their parents’ return to the country of origin.
A trend has emerged of not defining education as a “human right” anymore, but of rather calling it a “human need”. This has paved the way for an ever increasing commercialisation of education, excluding the poor from access to education. A problem at a different level is that states often do not know what is expected of them when realising the right to education as protected by international law. This relates to the complex nature of this right, which is simultaneously a civil and political and an economic, social and cultural right. This book seeks to affirm education as a “human right” and to describe the various state duties flowing from the right to education. It refers to the provisions on the right to education found in instruments of international law and systematically analyses article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The book is of interest to students, teachers, researchers, legal practitioners and state and international officials dealing with international human rights law.
This article assesses the status and evolution of education rights in 191 constitutions and analyzes their relationship to educational policies and enrolment rates. As of 2011, 81% of constitutions protected primary education universally and 53% designated it as free. A minority granted secondary (37%) and higher (35%) education or explicitly protected specific groups. Constitutions adopted after 1990, which belong predominantly to low- and middle-income countries, were more likely to protect education rights. Countries that constitutionally protected free education were more likely to have corresponding national policies. Those that constitutionally guaranteed primary and secondary education had significantly higher net enrolment, independent of GDP and urbanization.
In migration control policies, social rights are often restricted in order to discourage immigration. The right to education seems to be the exception to the rule. This paper examines whether the right to education - beyond legal technical questions of the personal scope of application of human rights treaties, and the nature and the meaning of the right - is able to provide empowering leverage to undocumented children, or rather remains a lofty ideal on paper. Empirical data are drawn from the Belgian situation. Sociological research has shown that while quantitative educational democratisation has been highly successful, qualitative educational democratisation remains problematic. With regard to undocumented children, real-life limitations to school access (both individual and institutional), as well as psycho-social and institutional impediments during the schooling process seriously limit equal schooling and life opportunities. Unequal responses to organisational and pedagogical challenges that the presence of mobile students puts to schools, reinforce institutional factors of educational inequality for undocumented children. A key factor in understanding the tension between the legal recognition of the human right to education and daily realities is the outright contradiction between the approaches towards education on the one hand, and to migration more generally on the other hand. The latter is increasingly dominated by a securisation ideology.
In the last 60 years, we have seen the growing development and articulation of human rights, particularly within international law and within and across supranational organizations. However, in that period, the right to maintain one's language(s), without discrimination, remains peculiarly underrepresented and/or problematized as a key human right. This is primarily because the recognition of language rights presupposes recognizing the importance of wider group memberships and social contexts; conceptions that ostensibly militate against the primacy of individual rights in the post-Second World War era. Drawing on theoretical debates in political theory and international law, as well as the substantive empirical example of Catalonia, this article argues that language rights can and should be recognized as an important human right.
The author traces the development of the introduction of European standards on the right to education in Russian legislation. A legal analysis is conducted for the period 1992-2004. The legislative reform is thereby set in the context of Russian history and the present societal context of Russia.
Despite having legislation to cope with the infringements on the right to education, it is argued that implementation in practice has begun but still leaves much to be desired at the eve of 2005. It ends with a review of the reform agenda 2004-2010. Notwithstanding the constitutional guarantees, if legislation is not carried into practical effect, the long-term guarantee of a minimum quality education for each child in Russia remains in doubt.
Relationships between schools, government, parents and students are changing within education systems across Europe. Underpinning these changes is the legal and legislative framework established in educaton and other laws- which vary considerably across Europe. However, increasingly, national governments are comparing their systems with others. This is also tending to be reinforced by decisions of the European Court of Justice and changes in the educational systems of Central and Eastern Europe. The changing world economy is also having an impact and forcing educational institutions to look at developments beyond their own borders.
There is an increasing tendency for Western European states to extend elements of minority rights protection to so-called 'new' minorities through the establishment of detailed integration policies and mechanisms to reduce discrimination, whilst also enabling these groups to maintain their own distinct identity. However, thus far, refugee communities have largely been excluded from these policies, and refugee integration policy has evolved in parallel to minority integration policy, focusing primarily on language and citizenship education. The failure of Western European states to establish effective refugee integration policies has led to barriers to refugee integration, such as intolerance, discrimination and opposition to the maintenance of their distinct identity. Consequently, Western European states are now facing large groups of poorly integrated refugees settling permanently in their territory, which in turn has implications for the cohesiveness and stability of society. This article argues that in order to ensure the integration of refugees, and hence the cohesiveness of society, it is necessary to enable refugee communities to maintain their distinct identity and reduce discrimination. Further, as the majority of Western European states have already established detailed integration policies in respect of other minority groups, it would be effective and viable to include refugees within these pre-existing policy frameworks. First, in order to highlight the importance of taking a new approach to refugee integration, potential barriers to refugee integration and implications for society are identified by considering the interrelationship between integration and identity. Secondly, selected state and EU practice in respect of refugee integration is considered in the light of minority rights obligations, and the shortcomings in state practice are drawn out. Finally, the question of whether refugee communities can be considered to be minorities within international law is addressed, and the benefit of minority rights based policies regarding integration is considered through an examination of state and NGO run integration projects. © The Author (2012). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
This second edition is a revised and updated survey of the application of the Convention, describing the reports and decisions of its appointed organs, Article by Article and Clause by Clause, from 1968 to the end of 1982, and in some instances more recently than that. Given the vast expansion of human rights since 1968, the survey has been confined to the Convention, and there is no attempt to discuss legal or political doctrine. The new edition which draws upon the author's unique and extensive experiences as President of the European Commission of Human Rights will, like its forerunner, be the first point of reference for students and scholars of European Human Rights. Please note that the paperback edition only is available on inspection.
In most cases, discussions on the right to education focus on the way access to education can be warranted for all and which aims should be pursued in rather abstract terms. This article approaches the topic starting from the case of Roma people. The particularity of their living circumstances raises the question what it is that we are aiming at when trying to realize a universal right to education for them. After confronting their social practices with the education system, three suggestions are made how to make sense of a right to education. First, the need for a holistic approach towards human rights is expressed. Second, the right to education is thought of in terms of a right to qualification. Finally, an open dialogue of social practices is proposed, as a fixed idea of what the school should look like is not desirable in a multicultural society.
Human rights as legal rights originate from human rights as pre-existing moral rights; however, as pre-existing human rights are unwritten and invisible, it is uncertain whether all of these rights have been recognised and defined properly. This article advances the thought that if there are any human rights at all and if the civil and political rights recognised and defined by the United Nations represent these pre-existing human rights, then there must be at least one more such right, the right of all to freedom of language and, therefore, the United Nations ought to recognise and define this right too.
Despite Western European nation-states' attempts to control access to their territories, a large number of migrants live in the European immigration countries without a legal residence status. Their access to social rights is restricted by national migration control policies. Focusing on the case of Germany, this article addresses the question of which factors may, against the background of a highly restrictive migration control regime that makes explicit provisions to deny social rights to irregular migrants, encourage policy changes in the field of irregular migrants' social rights. Analysing several recent cases of successful implementation of educational rights for children without a legal residence status, the article argues that the institutional structure of a nation-state can have an important impact regarding policy changes on irregular migration. The article analyses how the interplay of the specific federal structure of the German state and the existence of the international human rights regime have served as preconditions for an improved access of irregular migrants to the right to education.
The Protection of the Right to Education by International Law
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National identity and the European Convention on Human Rights
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Les droits sociaux dans la jurisprudence de la Commission et Cour européenne des droits de l’homme
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National identity and the European Convention on Human Rights
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Minority children and their schooling
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Children and the European Union
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