Education International Research
“It is all left to the good will and judgement of the single institution or teacher, you can never take anything for granted. It all depends on the sensitivity of the school principal and collegial bodies”. —Municipality representative (Milan) 2.2.2. Establishing common procedures aligned with existing regulations Whilst local good practices are evident, so too are cases of school personnel being ignorant of some aspects of the legal framework concerning the right to education for migrant children. Such instances were reported by school personnel interviewees and require a determined response from local and national education authorities. “We’re talking about small numbers but it happens that, sometimes, children are forced to roam from one school to another, because there is no place. This is not the right way. It might happen that a school is ‘full’ but the personnel should make every effort to find an alternative. Even if only 12 children were affected, it is not acceptable!” —Expert in intercultural education In particular, the duty of schools to enrol all children aged between six and 16, the right to be enrolled at any time during the school year, and the insertion of the child in a class that corresponds to his/her age were the most cited problematic aspects during the field data collection. “We have cases of 13/14-year-old teenagers who have been inserted into the last grade of primary school. This is really embarrassing both for the pupils and for local families”. —Social worker, Accommodation centre for unaccompanied minors (Catania) The “resistance” from certain schools to enrol refugee children can be overcome by appealing to the provincial educational authority (commonly called “provveditorato agli studi”). Nevertheless, many interviewees declared that this solution would only be used as a last resort, to avoid going against the will of the school. “Turning to the provveditorato is not in the interest of the minor. As a result, he or she could be ‘parked’ in a classroom and not receive the needed attention and support or even be suspended at the first occasion. The child is the big loser if he or she is not well accepted”. —Social worker, Accommodation centre for unaccompanied minors (Milan)
B16