Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe

Chapter 3 – Rights to Education to Support MeasuresRights for children younger than compulsory school ageA few countries encourage the access to education for immigrant children who are not yet of compulsoryschool age. Spain and the United Kingdom (England, Wales and Scotland) take the clearest stance in thisrespect. In these countries, there is a legal obligation to provide sufficient places in pre-primary educationfor non-Spanish residents and ‘eligible’ children (all 3 and 4 year olds resident in the area in Scotland andall 4 year olds in England and Wales) respectively. In Belgium, France, Finland and Sweden, foreignchildren may not be discriminated against with respect to admission to nursery schools, while inLithuania, immigrant children may attend nurseries or, on request, pre-primary preparatory groups.In Denmark and Sweden, pre-school children who do not have Danish or Swedish respectively as theirmother tongue are given support with a view to learning those languages before starting school.Eligibility for support measuresSupport measures are almost always offered on a ‘needs’ basis to all immigrant children who have a rightto schooling, irrespective of their particular immigration or residence status. Most countries do not makea distinction between rights for different categories of immigrant children. Belgium, France andLuxembourg apply specific measures for so-called ‘new arrivals’, broadly speaking, children who haverecently entered the school system and who have no or very limited knowledge of the language ofinstruction. This focus on providing language support is also found in a number of other countries.Three countries (the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia) reserve their specific support measures forasylum seeker and refugee children.The approach adopted in the United Kingdom does not take account of rights of residence orimmigration status at all. All children of compulsory school age have a right to receive education.Additional support is offered on the basis of need, which may be assessed in relation to ethnic andsocio-economic background.Other countries also design measures aimed to achieve equality of educational opportunity and targetvulnerable groups, defined on the basis of socio-economic indicators, rather than immigrants per se (seeChapter 4, section 4.4.1).3.2. Access to School Services and Financial AssistanceImmigrant pupils throughout Europe have access to school services on the same basis as other pupils.This rule applies to all pupils who have a right to compulsory schooling. ‘School services’ encompassesthe use of school facilities such as canteens, school equipment and materials, extracurricular activities,health services and so on. It also includes transport to and from school. Some countries (such as Finlandand Sweden) provide these services free of charge to all pupils.Other countries (such as Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal) offer children fromlow-income families, including immigrant families, means-tested assistance with meeting the costs ofusing these services. Special grants are available in France and Luxembourg, and children from lowincomefamilies are exempt from some financial contributions to the provision of school services. In theNetherlands, there is some provision for low-income families, such as subsidies to cover school fees andother expenses. Immigrant families have the same right to apply for these as other families. Greece,Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania and Iceland offer help to meet the cost of travelling to and from school.Lithuania and the United Kingdom provide free meals for children from low-income families, while35