1.2. Statistical Data and Analysis on Impact on Migration Flow in Education Environments
In its 2016 report, UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) indicated that the number of refugee children increased by over 77 % between 2010 and 2015 and that this number is not going to decrease. “Nearly 1 in every 200 children in the world is a child refugee!”
“One in three asylum seekers in Europe is a child”, said Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship about the years 2015 and 2016.
Over 96,000 asylum applications for foreign unaccompanied minors were introduced in 2015 in EU Member States. An unprecedented number according to Eurostat.
What impact children’s and young people’s migration flows have in educational environments?
During the Oslo Summit on Education Development (July 2015), experts indicated that, in 35 crisis-affected countries, 65 million children aged 3-15 years are currently most directly affected and at risk of education disruption, dropout and poor quality, alongside other psychosocial and protection concerns.
Likewise, a study conducted for the European Commission revealed in 2013 that newly arrived migrant children are more likely to face segregation and end up in schools with fewer resources. […] This leads to under-performance and a high probability that the children will drop out of school early.
Eurostat Migrant integration–education indicators in 2014 confirm the analysis:
- A quarter of non-EU citizens aged 18-24 left school prematurely. Non-EU citizens are more than twice as likely to be early school leavers as nationals.
- More than 20% of young non-EU citizens are neither in education nor in employment. The “NEET” (Not in Education, Employment or Training) rate corresponds to the percentage of the population aged 15-24 who are not employed and not involved in further education or training.
- Low education level prevails among the non-EU population living in the EU
The OECD 2015 report on immigrant students at school indicated that before the recent inflow of migrants, the number of immigrant students had already increased in the organisation member states (between 2003 and 2012, the percentage of 15 year-old immigrant students increased from 9% to 12%) and that this increase did not come with a decrease of educational standards in host communities.
In this respect, the PISA 2012 survey (OECD Program for International Student Assessment) shows there is no relation between the percentage of immigrant students in an education system and its performance.
However, the OECD report found that large proportions of teachers in several countries feel that they need more professional development in the area of teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting.
Not all schools are equally prepared and equipped to deal with multicultural student populations. This is notably the case in France and Belgium where more schools report that ethnic diversity hinders learning. This suggests that these schools need to start viewing ethnic differences as a learning resource and not as a liability.
The OECD report concludes that immigrant students’ school success does not depend only on their attitudes, socioeconomic background and previous school history, but also on the quality and receptivity of the education system of their host country, which is also highlighted by European researchers.