Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe

Chapter 1 – European Policies in Education for Immigrant ChildrenTo sum up, current European legislation on the education of children who are nationals of third countriesand either have legal status or have been resident for at least a certain minimum period, is concernedwith granting entitlement to education under the same conditions as those applicable to nationals, butsubject to certain possible exceptions (see above). It contains no provisions regarding the entitlement toeducation of children who are third-country nationals and irregularly present on European Unionterritory. Neither does it include any positive measures for the assistance of immigrant children.1.3. Definition of Common Objectives and the Monitoring of IntegrationPolicyOne of the general objectives set by the 2000 Lisbon Summit was to improve active citizenship, equalopportunities and social cohesion. This relates in particular to the access of immigrants and their childrento education and training systems.Among the European benchmarks for education and training which were adopted by the ‘Education,Youth and Culture’ Council of 5 May 2003 and should be achieved by 2010, three benchmarks areparticularly relevant in promoting integration and employment of the immigrant population: the average proportion of young people in the EU who leave school early should not exceed 10 %;at least 85 % of young people aged 22 in the EU should have completed upper secondary education;the percentage of young people in the EU who have achieved poor results in reading and writingshould decrease by at least 20 % compared to 2000.It is indeed clear that specific difficulties, essentially linguistic in nature, that may be experienced byimmigrant children during their education are liable to give rise, first, to problems with reading andwriting and then to school dropout. These three benchmarks should therefore prompt Member States tostep up their efforts on behalf of schoolchildren in difficulty, and certain immigrant pupils in particular.The European Commission has several means at its disposal for monitoring policies adopted by MemberStates for the integration of immigrants. In accordance with the conclusions of the Thessaloniki Summit,the Commission is developing cooperation and the exchange of information between Member Statesthrough the Group of national contact points on the integration of third-country nationals. Moreparticularly, introduction programmes for newly arrived immigrants, language training for immigrantsand their participation in civic, cultural and political life, have been identified as priority areas in thisrespect. Furthermore, in 2003 the Commission agreed to prepare an annual report on policies forimmigration and integration in Europe, so as to collect a broad set of data on migratory movementthroughout the EU, as well as on policies and practice in the areas of immigration and integration.Finally, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, which commenced its activities in1998 ( 6 ), focused its activities in 2003 and 2004 on the discrimination experienced by immigrants in thefields of employment and education.( 6 ) According to Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 of 2 June 1997.13