Migration & Mobility: challenges and opportunities for EU education systems

This Green Paper addresses an important challenge facing education systems today, a challenge which, while not new, has in recent years intensified and become more widespread the presence in schools of large numbers of children from a migrant background who are in a weak socio-economic position.Research has identified several causes contributing to the current educational disadvantage of many migrants. Some key factors relate to the individual background of migrant pupils low socio-economic background, language, family and community expectations. However, data also show the importance of education systems and that some countries succeed better than others in reducing the gap between migrant and native pupils, thus demonstrating that policies may significantly influence school performance. Segregation, for instance, is a downward spiral that affects children’s motivation and performance. Ability grouping and tracking may have similar effects. Teachers’ expectations, and their preparedness to deal with diversity, may further condition results.

The Green Paper undertakes a brief review of policies and approaches that may foster educational success for migrant pupils. It indicates that those systems which strongly prioritise equity in education are also the most effective in integrating migrant pupils. Among the policy measures which seem particularly useful to address the issue are pre-school education, language learning, additional educational support such as mentoring and tutoring, intercultural education as well as partnerships with families and communities. Preventing segregation and desegregating “ghetto” schools seems a precondition to guarantee real equal opportunities to migrant pupils. To do that, ensuring high quality standards in all schools, especially in relation to teaching and leadership, is essential.