Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe

Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in EuropeWritten information about the school systemSeveral countries publish information in foreign languages with a view to explaining the school system.Most countries producing this type of information do so at the level of the ministry of education.In Ireland, information is prepared by a specialist agency (the Reception and Integration Agency) in thenine main languages of the asylum population and is made available in three versions, for the parentsof asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, and parents of other non-national children. InLuxembourg, the Centres de Psychologie et d’Orientation Scolaire at secondary level publish informationin Portuguese aimed at children finishing primary school. The Federal Ministry of Education in Austriapublishes, updates and distributes a series of leaflets covering topics such as school enrolment,language learning and educational opportunities for immigrants. Regional school boards and advicecentres also issue their own information leaflets and translate various school forms. The Office of theHigh Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities in Portugal (ACIME) publishes regularly updatedleaflets of general interest, which are also available on the ACIME website in English andRussian ( 1 ). Latvia also provides information in those languages. In Finland, municipalities (aseducation providers) publish information on their websites and in separate brochures (for instance,Helsinki has such brochures in English, Russian, Estonian and Somali).This type of measure is generally very recent (brochures describing the rights and obligations of childrenand parents with respect to pre-primary and primary education have been available since 2003 in theFlemish Community of Belgium, while in Norway a similar initiative is to be launched in autumn 2004).Hungary and Estonia have both also just launched a multilingual portal on the Internet providinginformation on educational opportunities for immigrant children and their families ( 2 ).Figure 2.5 in Chapter 2 shows that, of the countries publishing multilingual information, Belgium,Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, the United Kingdom (England) and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlandsand France, are countries with a high number of foreign nationals aged under 15 (it should also, of course,be remembered that in France, many children are French nationals due to the nationality laws of thiscountry). Ireland and Norway, on the other hand, are both countries that have experienced a recentupsurge in immigration, which may help to explain the move to publish information for immigrantfamilies.Provision of interpretersThis measure covers a variety of situations in which school/home communication takes place, including(but not restricted to) regular parent-teacher meetings. Although a number of countries report havingrecourse to interpreters in a school setting, Finland and Sweden are the only countries in whichimmigrant parents have a statutory right to an interpreter.In Sweden, interpretation must be provided if necessary at special introductory meetings held withnewly arrived families in order to explain their rights with regard to pre-school and school education, aswell as to explain the basic values underpinning the national curriculum. They are also entitled tointerpretation in order to follow the twice-yearly ‘personal development dialogue’ held with all parents.In Finland, immigrants have a statutory right only in issues initiated by the authorities. However, theprovision of interpretation services is encouraged by national authorities and also in practice availableaccording to the resources of the municipality. There is a specific subsidy provided by the Ministry of( 1 ) www.acime.gov.pt( 2 ) For Hungary, this can be visited at www.migrans.edu.hu and for Estonia, athttp://www.hm.ee/uus/hm/client/index.php?13526230133914155538