In this presentation we will report findings from a study that is currently ongoing, but will focus on the German case study portion. The larger study also includes Lebanon. The project, led by Bernhard Streitwieser, is funded by a grant from the International Institute of Education (IIE)’s Platform for Education in Emergencies Response project (PEER) and the Catalyst Foundation.
Within the last five years, the global refugee population has increased by 65%. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are now 68.5 forcibly displaced people worldwide, 25.4 million among whom are refugees, half under the age of 18 (UNHCR, 2018). Among this population, UNHCR figures indicate that only 1% will ever manage to enter or reenter tertiary level studies. Although this figure is in some cases slightly higher in certain geographic contexts, it still falls far below the global average for tertiary educational attainment of 36% (UNHCR, 2017)
While securing shelter and safety is the primary concern of refugees following displacement, beginning or resuming education is often an immediate next step for successful adjustment into a new country (Ager & Strang, 2008). Returning to an educational routine can set a clear pathway back into society and serve as a powerful counterweight to the trauma of forced migration (Crea, 2016). With renewed educational perspectives, refugees have been found to be among the most resilient and ambitious learners (Mangan & Winter, 2017). These include learning a new language, having educational credentials evaluated and approved, navigating a new academic system, adjusting to a foreign society’s norms and expectations, renegotiating a new identity, and dealing with prolonged psychological stress caused by physical and emotional trauma (Joyce, Earnest, de Mori, & Silvagni, 2010; Stevenson & Willott, 2007; Zeus, 2011).
With conflicts boiling or open warfare raging in some settings, including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, and Egypt, the migration of refugees and asylum seekers in many directions has intensified, including toward Europe (Juran and Broer 2017). For many refugees, their desired end destination is Germany for its social system and liberal immigration policies (Streitwieser, Miller-Idriss, and Wit 2017; Streitwieser & Brück, 2018). In 2015 alone, as many as 890,000 arrived in the country. Among this influx, 76.2% were males between the ages of 18-25 (BAMF, 2018). At first, Germany could only cope with processing and sheltering new arrivals, but over time it also began to direct them into retraining and educational and professional pathways.
To date, there has been insufficient research studying equitable access routes for refugees and displaced persons to enter into higher education. Also absent has been a full understanding of the specific constraints that shape their choices, or the opportunities and interventions that are available to them for advancing their education (Hatton, 2017; Streitwieser, et al., 2018). The main goal of this paper, therefore is to undertake a mapping of the pathways refugees traverse to move from non-formal education (NFE) into formal education (FE) in Europe. The data comes from a larger International Institute of Education (IIE) funded project currently being conducted by the authors within the PEER that also includes a case study on Lebanon. While the particular focus is on Germany, the study will also provide a wider mapping to the extent that doing so illuminates the case. The project will highlight existing NFE and FE initiatives and provide detailed examples to illustrate how they became established, which populations they serve, what challenges they have faced and overcome, what some outcomes have been, and how a better understanding of their efforts can provide the research and practitioner community with recommendations for current and future initiatives.