Executive Summary
One-hundred percent of child refugees and migrants stranded in sites across Greece are out of school. For the majority of girls and boys, their education has been disrupted for far longer than their journey to Europe, and the time they have spent waiting in Greece. On average, children have been out of school for 1.5 years.
The amount of time that children have been without learning ranges from one month to seven years. Fortyfive percent of Syrian children surveyed have been out of school for more than three years. For Afghan children, the average is just under eleven months. More than one in five of the school-age children surveyed have never been to school, including girls and boys as old as 11, 12 and 13 years. This level of disruption to learning threatens to have a long term impact on children’s cognitive and social development, wellbeing, the acquirement of essential life skills, and their overall future.
Ninety-nine percent of parents say that war and displacement have been the main barriers preventing their children from beginning or continuing their education. For those children that have been to school before, the quality of education they received is very varied. Whilst many Syrians are happy with the quality of schooling before the war, attacks on schools, insecurity, and displacement has meant that many have not benefited from the services that were once on offer. Afghan parents report insecurity, and overall a poor quality of provision.
As refugees in other countries, barriers to education include the cost of school fees, discrimination, the lack of language support, and the lack of opportunity for enrolment. In Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, 60% of Syrian children are not enrolled in school. Education has emerged as a clear priority for children, and their caregivers. 77% of girls and boys listed going back to school as one of their top priorities, followed by Family (60%), Health (43%) and Home (28%). One in three parents and caregivers reported that education was the key reason for leaving for Europe.
The learning needs of children are very varied, given the time that many children have spent out of school, their varied experiences of education, and the uncertainty surrounding where they may settle – in Greece, in another EU country, as a refugee deported back to Turkey or to their home country. The provision of nonformal education must account for a range of needs, and incorporate first language literacy and numeracy, in addition to Greek and English language learning. 71% of parents request English lessons for their children, above all other subjects.
Formal schools in Greece, and in other EU host countries, must also consider the wider needs of refugee children who have been out-of-school for some time, and have experienced conflict and insecurity.ii Education is currently one of the largest gaps in the humanitarian response. Whilst several small initiatives do exist, coverage is limited, no systematic registration of students has taken place, and many sites do not have designated learning spaces. Children are not accessing either formal or non-formal education on a regular basis in designated learning spaces, disaggregated by age, according to a structured timetable, and with access to essential teaching and learning material. Furthermore, as child refugees leave their home countries, travel along the transit route and seek asylum in countries in Europe, there has been no tracking of their learning.
Since the borders to FYR of Macedonia closed, the context in Greece has shifted to a more static one, whereby families and children are expected to remain in reception sites for several months whilst their registration, asylum claims, and applications for reunification or relocation are processed. This change presents an opportunity to authorities, donors and humanitarian actors to get children back to school. Further disruption to their learning must be prevented.