UNHCR published a series of documents highlighting emerging practices to support education for refugee children and mitigate the effects of uneven access to online education, hardware and disrupted support services.¹¹⁵⁶ The European Trade Union Committee for Education launched a series of campaigns to promote diversity and inclusion in schools, collecting testimonies from teachers with migrant backgrounds, including beneficiaries of international protection.¹¹⁵⁷ Most of the reported state initiatives seemed not to have adapted yet to the changing teaching environment due to the pandemic.

The Ministry of Science and Education in Croatia continued to offer scholarships for beneficiaries of international protection enrolled in higher education – in 2020, three scholarships were awarded to beneficiaries based on their socio-economic status and children in elementary and secondary school could enrol in preparatory classes. The ministry continued to conduct language courses regularly and provided translations of diplomas which are required for including children in primary and secondary school. The ministry noted that, based on signed lists, the courses were not attended regularly or completed. Some concerns reported in the previous years by civil society organisations persisted.¹¹⁵⁸  

The Italian Ministry of the Interior offered 100 scholarships to student beneficiaries of international protection for the 2020/2021 school year, based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2016 with the Conference of Italian University Rectors. In France, 3,482 beneficiaries of international protection received student scholarships.¹¹⁵⁹ In Lithuania, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour signed a cooperation agreement with the Mykolas Romeris University to provide English or Lithuanian language courses for selected beneficiaries of international protection.
Polish civil society representatives called the Ministry of National Education, provincial education boards and school authorities to promote the employment of cultural assistants whose task is to support foreign children with their integration process.¹¹⁶⁰ The provisions regulating the possibility of employing a cultural assistant in a school were introduced into the legal framework in 2010, but they are not widely implemented in practice and the number of assistants remain moderate. The Polish Supreme Audit Office published a report on education of children with a migratory background. According to the report, the Minister of National Education, which is a leading institution in the area of education, does not monitor and analyse the situation of this group of students and integration measures were either accidental or non-existent.¹¹⁶¹

A coalition of 21 Romanian civil society organisations working on asylum, migration, human rights and public policies sent a letter to the Ministry of Education to highlight the impact of online learning on refugee and migrant children and provided recommendations to the authorities to avoid long-term negative consequences.¹¹⁶² 

A new study conducted by an NGO analysed refugees’ access to education and educational attainment in Denmark.¹¹⁶³ Among the most significant findings, the report noted that younger refugee children attend the same level of education as their Danish peers, but the difference becomes well pronounced if they arrive after the age of 13. Women refugees are also more likely to get into higher education than men, who rather opt for vocational education.¹¹⁶⁴ In 2020, refugees with temporary protection status were granted the right to free secondary education, similar to other refugees.¹¹⁶⁵ 

UNHCR in Bulgaria noted the positive changes that the legislative amendments in 2017 brought to the education of applicant and beneficiary children, together with closer cooperation among educational professionals, national and local authorities, and civil society organisations.¹¹⁶⁶ 

[1156] United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (April 2020). Supporting Continued Access to Education During COVID-19 - Emerging Promising Practices. https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/Supporting%20Continued%20Acess%20to%20Education%20During%20COVID-19_FINAL_0.pdf; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (July 2020). Supporting Continued Access to Education During COVID-19 - Emerging Promising Practices (Issue 2). https://www.unhcr.org/5f06d92e4.pdf
[1157] European Trade Union Committee for Education. (2020, December 18). International Migrants Day: Having a migrant background is an asset, not an obstacle. https://www.csee-etuce.org/en/news/etuce/4172-international-migrants-day-having-a-migrant-background-is-an-asset-not-an-obstacle; European Trade Union Committee for Education. (2020). Testimonies from teachers. https://www.csee-etuce.org/en/projects/education-trade-unions-and-inclusive-schools-embracing-diversity-in-education/4116-testimonies-from-teachers; European Trade Union Committee for Education. (2020). Trade union actions. https://www.csee-etuce.org/en/projects/education-trade-unions-and-inclusive-schools-embracing-diversity-in-education/3581-trade-union-actions-to-highlight-key-dates-regarding-equality-and-inclusion
[1158] European Asylum Support Office. (June 2020). EASO Asylum Report 2020: The Situation of Asylum in the European Union. https://easo.europa.eu/asylum-report-2020; Are You Syrious. (2021). Input to the EASO Asylum Report 2021. https://easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Are-You-Syrious-AYS.pdf
[1159] Diair - Accueil et intégration des réfugiés. (2021, February 16). "3482 bénéficiaires de la protection internationale ont une #bourse étudiante accordée par le @sup_recherche et instruite par les @Cnous_LesCrous 158 sont en 'DU passerelle', #diplômes habilités par le @sup_recherche et mis en œuvre par +de 40 établissements du @reseaumens" / Twitter [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/DIRefugies/status/1361662961958465537; Forum réfugiés - Cosi. (2021). Input to the EASO Asylum Report 2021. https://easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Forumre-fugies-Cosi.pdf
[1160] Ministry of National Education | Ministerstwa Edukacji Narodowej. (2020). Apel o aktywne włączenie się Ministerstwa Edukacji Narodowej, Wojewódzkich Kuratoriów Oświaty oraz organów prowadzących szkoły w upowszechnianie zatrudniania osób pełniących funkcję pomocy nauczyciela (asystentek i asystentów międzykulturowych) oraz asystentek i asystentów edukacji romskiej [Call for active involvement of the Ministry of National Education, Voivodship Education Curators and school leaders in promoting the recruitment of teachers (assistants and intercultural assistants) and Roma education assistants and assistants]. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GCsVjFx9bBxbnRysJBtRxpQjWDigBVvd1TwcwSDTlPY/viewform
[1161] Supreme Audit Office, Department of Science, Education and National Heritage | Najwyższej Izbie Kontroli, Departament Nauki, Oświaty i Dziedzictwa Narodowego. (2020). Kształcenie dzieci rodziców powracających do kraju oraz dzieci cudzoziemców [Education of Parents' Children Returning to the Country and Children of Foreign Nationals]. https://www.nik.gov.pl/plik/id,22685,vp,25384.pdf
[1162] European Web Site on Integration. (2020, July 29). Romania: Letter to the Ministry of Education on the effects of the lockdown and remote learning on refugee and migrant children. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/romania-letter-to-the-ministry-of-education-on-the-effects-of-the-lockdown-and-remote-learning-on-refugee-and-migrant-children
[1163] Analyse & Tal F.M.B.A. (March 2020). Flygtninge i uddannelse - En analyse af flygtninge, der påbegynder ungdomsuddannelser og videregående uddannelser i Danmark [Refugees in education — Analysis of refugees starting secondary and higher education in Denmark]. http://www.dsfnet.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Flygtninge-i-uddannelse_rapport_web.pdf
[1164] European Web Site on Integration. (2020, March 5). Flygtninge i uddannelse [Refugees in education]. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/librarydoc/refugees-in-education
[1165] Danish Refugee Council. (2021). Input to the EASO Asylum Report 2021. https://easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/DRC-Danish-Refugee-Council.pdf
[1166] UNHCR Bulgaria | UNHCR България. (2020, September 4). Каузата „образование“ обедини държава, гражданско общество и бежански семейства [Education brought together state, civil society and refugee families]. https://www.unhcr.org/bg/5919-education_refugees.html