Belgium
School-based psychosocial interventions’ effectiveness in strengthening refugee and migrant adolescents’ mental health, resilience, and social relations: A four-country cluster randomized study
School-based psychosocial interventions are increasingly put forward as a way to support young refugees’ and migrants’ well-being and mental health in resettlement. However, the evidence on these interventions’ effectiveness remains scarce and scholars denounce particular gaps in the evidence to date, pointing to a lack of large-scale, controlled studies and studies including social outcome measures. This cluster randomized study aims…
2023
‘We hold on and have patience’: Perspectives and experiences of migrant fathers in Belgian asylum centres
On arrival in the European Union, most migrants who apply for asylum stay often for extended periods of time in asylum centres, putting parenting practices under pressure. Despite an increased interest in the functioning of migrant families, the perspectives of migrant fathers remain marginalized in practice, policy, and scientific research. Very little is known about how migration impacts fathering practices…
2024
Making vulnerable groups able to connect socially and digitally — Opportunities and pitfalls
Introduction: This article addresses digital and social inclusion of adults with potential low digital skills. The article presents a case study of how digital learning activities (DLAs) as a service to refugees, immigrants, senior citizens, and young adults neither in education, employment, or training (NEETs), are delivered outside the formal educational system by two libraries and one civic organization in…
2024
The role of school-based creative expression interventions in the aftermath of migration: A qualitative exploration of parents’ and teachers’ perspectives
This study explored supportive relational processes for immigrant children's well-being between peers, teachers, and parents in the development of school-based creative interventions in European multi-ethnic societies. Within the present study, we integrated the perspectives of teachers and parents to broaden the dominant focus on the assessment of individual symptomatology within the existing body of studies of school-based interventions studies. As…
2024
Supporting and measuring current and future educators’ preparedness to facilitate wellbeing of displaced children in schools
IntroductionImmigrant and refugee children face multiple challenges in accessing education. To help facilitate the educational success and wellbeing of these children, teachers need to have self-efficacy in creating a supportive learning environment for them. MethodsBased on a set of highly interconnected competences identified through a literature review and empirical research, the study developed a measurement instrument to assess teachers' generalized…
2023
Mental health problems in refugee and immigrant primary school children in Flanders, Belgium
Background: European countries face the challenge of promoting refugee and immigrant children’s well-being within their host communities, invoking the necessity of adequate mental health assessment. This study aims to contribute to document the psychosocial well-being of primary school refugee and non-refugee immigrant children in Flanders, Belgium. Method: A total of 120 children (8–12 years old) with migration backgrounds participated in the…
2022
Working With the Encounter: A Descriptive Account and Case Analysis of School-Based Collaborative Mental Health Care for Refugee Children in Leuven, Belgium
Scholars increasingly point toward schools as meaningful contexts in which to provide psychosocial care for refugee children. Collaborative mental health care in school forms a particular practice of school-based mental health care provision. Developed in Canada and inspired by systemic intervention approaches, collaborative mental health care in schools involves the formation of an interdisciplinary care network, in which mental health…
2022
An overview of refugee education in Europe
The overview of refugee children education in Europe we provide in this book is part of the Erasmus + project “ITIRE: Improving teaching to improve refugee children education”. Following the unprecedented flow of forced migrants to Europe in 2015, several countries have adopted measures to facilitate the enrolment of refugee children in the educational system. These actions have produced a…
2020
Türkiye
Denmark
Cyprus
Malta
Iceland
Albania
Norway
Belgium
Luxembourg
Intervention
Romania
Monaco
Switzerland
Bosnia
Czechia
Human rights
Croatia
Germany
Estonia
Sweden
Finland
Italy
Macedonia
Austria
Poland
Slovenia
Portugal
United Kingdom
Serbia
Slovakia
Caregivers
Netherlands
Lithuania
English
Ireland
Hungary
France
Greece
Bulgaria
Access & participation
Spain
Latvia
Overview of the barriers to education facing children in Northern France
The report highlights the grave children’s rights violations occurring daily and the wholly inadequate state response to protect this group of vulnerable children. There is an absence of child protection facilities and services and a widespread lack of access to reliable, comprehensive, age and language appropriate information for families and children. Although the Nord and Pas-de-Calais department has set up…
2020
How can migrant entrepreneurship education contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals? The experience of the fresh start programme
This article considers the implications of migrant entrepreneurship education (MEEd) for sustainability and for the work of global adult educators. It will present some insights into the opportunities and challenges created by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the experience of running the Fresh Start (FS) MEEd programme. This programme, funded by the European Union (EU) in 2017-2019, brought together…
2020
Responding to the ECEC needs of children of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe and North America
In Europe and North America, the arrival of heightened numbers of refugees and asylum seekers in recent years has challenged the ability of governments and service providers to both meet initial reception needs and provide effective long-term integration services. Young children make up a significant share of these newcomers. As a result, there is a pressing need for early childhood…
2018
Refugees Welcome? Recognition of Qualifications Held by Refugees and Their Access to Higher Education in Europe–Country Analyses
The European Students' Union with the support of the Open Society Foundation published a new study on recognition of qualifications held by refugees and their access to higher education in Europe. The paper analyses how a selected pool of countries use education as an instrument for inclusion of refugees, asylum seekers and persons in refugee-like situation. The report includes detailed…
2017
Determinants of the Recognition of Foreign Certificates in Flanders
This article explores the assessment of foreign academic certificates in Flanders between January 2014 and February 2019. It examines data NARIC (National Academic and Professional Recognition and Information Centre) Flanders gathered on its applicants, their applications, and its subsequent decisions. As professional recognitions, providing access to regularised professions in Flanders, are given by the designated authorities in their field, it…
2020
Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Minors, NGO cooperation, Teaching Materials – National Roundtable of Bulgaria 2019
The National Round Table (NRT) 2019 program was structured around 4+1 topics related to educational integration of refugee children. The 4 main topics were chosen by the participants in the NRT 2018 in Sofia as the most relevant nationally. To take advantage of the pan-European nature of the SIRIUS Network and its spin-off projects, a special focus was put on…
2019
Implementing the ways through which refugees can be supported in their higher education in the host countries considering psychological and psychosocial elements and intercessions for their mental health
Refugee is a person who has to flee his or her country due to the dangers threatening his or her life. The percentage of refugees, who have been forced to abandon their country in search of a better life, is being increased. As a result of hardships they have been coping with during their immigration, they might suffer from psychological…
2019
Multi‐country Partnership to Enhance the Education of Refugee and Asylum‐seeking Youth in Europe – PERAE
The ‘Multi‐country Partnership to Enhance the Education of Refugee and Asylum‐seeking Youth in Europe ‐ PERAE’ was initiated by the SIRIUS Network – Policy Network on Migrant Education in 2016 with the support of the Mercator Foundation. The initiative builds up on the SIRIUS ‘Agenda on Migrant Education’ (SIRIUS, 2014) and the Statement on Urgent Response for the Education of…
2018
Continuity of learning for newly arrived refugee children in Europe
Notwithstanding the efforts made by EU Member States in recent years, third-country nationals continue to be placed at a disadvantage regarding employment, education and social inclusion compared to EU citizens (OECD/European Union, 2015). For refugees, and people with a migration background at large, education is key for socio-economic success and for overcoming disadvantages in European societies. Education fosters social inclusion,…
2017