Integration of Immigrants by Education
The integration of Europe’s immigrants through schooling should become a major policy priority by the end of this decade. The EU education ministers have agreed to ramp up investment. Recent OECD data showed many countries are failing to help children of immigrants integrate.
The ministers decided that language support has to play a key role. They also agreed to make vocational training more market responsive. The number of students who leave school early was also discussed.
The EU is far from its own drop-out target rate of 10 percent. Last year, around five million young Europeans quit early - “not easily employed,” the bloc’s education commissioner noted.
Member states were called on - notably Poland and Greece - to join in Europe-wide debate about violence in schools. Solid support systems for teachers and students were found in countries that are successful in integrating second generation immigrant students. Sweden is one example. Many of the ministers also supported a call for high quality structures for pre-schoolers, such as already exist in some countries.
(source EuroNews )