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The term asylum seeker is generally used to refer
to someone who has come to the UK to seek political asylum.
The term refugee generally refers to someone whose
asylum application has been processed, granting them permission
to remain in the country.
The Immigration and Asylum Act of 1999 (implemented April
2000) introduced the process of dispersing refugees around
the UK. The Government White Paper, Secure Borders, Safe
Haven: Integration With Diversity in Modern Britain (2002),
will lead to many changes that will affect provision for refugees
and newly arrived linguistic minorities in general.
The situation regarding rights and entitlements is very complex
since it depends on an individual's status. There is uncertainty
in educational institutions regarding the status and eligibility
of asylum seekers, which has resulted in some being unable
to access provision to which they are fully entitled. Individuals
with refugee status have the same rights as UK citizens, including
full access to further and higher education. All refugees
and asylum seekers are eligible for free ESOL provision to
improve their English language skills. Organisations such
as the Refugee Council,
the World University's Refugee
Education and Training Advisory Service and the Refugee
Advice and Guidance Unit will be able to provide help
on this.
Information taken from Basic Skills and Refugees,
available free from the Basic Skills Agency on 0870 600 2400.
British citizenship tests have been launched across the UK.
The 45-minute test, covering government, society and practical
issues, costs £34. People seeking to become British will take
the test at one of 90 centres across the country, before taking
part in a formal citizenship ceremony.
The Life in the UK test is the last of a series of changes
to how people become British brought in by the former Home
Secretary, David Blunkett. Potential citizens must answer
75% of the questions correctly to pass, but they are allowed
to retake it until they pass. The Life in the UK citizenship
guide for prospective new citizens includes information on
British history and society, its institutions and political
system - but also practical issues key to integration such
as employment, healthcare, education and using public services
like libraries.
The Home Office said it wanted to create a more meaningful
way of becoming a citizen in an effort to help people integrate
and share in British values and traditions. Immigration minister,
Tony McNulty, said: "This is not a test of someone's ability
to be British or a test of their Britishness. It is a test
of their preparedness to become citizens, in keeping with
the language requirement as well. It is about looking forward,
rather than an assessment of their ability to understand history."
Prospective new citizens already need to demonstrate sufficient
working knowledge of English to help them get on.
(BBC, 1 November 2005)
A report into the education experience of refugee and asylum
seeker children reveals that schools are struggling to meet
their needs and that the job has been made more difficult
by the Government's controversial policy of dispersal. The
research, carried out by Cambridge University's faculty of
education, was funded by the General Teaching Council, the
Refugee Council and the National Union of Teachers. Co-author,
Professor Madeleine Arnot, said: "We were impressed with
the hard work and compassion shown by schools and local authorities,
despite the fact that the educational needs of the child were
not at the focus of the dispersal decision. These children
represent a litmus test for inclusion policy; I think that
central government could offer far more support to LEAs and
schools."
Since 2000, the dispersal policy has relocated refugee and
asylum seeker families away from what the Government describes
as "cluster" areas. In practice, dispersal takes
families from places like central London and moves them to
areas that have surplus housing, often in northern towns and
cities.
Neither the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) nor
the Home Office know how many refugee and asylum seeker children
there are in English schools. A DfES spokesman said it was
"not possible" to state a figure. But a 2003 estimate
suggested there were over 95,000 asylum seeker and refugee
children in schools in the UK, of whom around two-thirds lived
in Greater London. Over 6,000 of these children arrived in
the UK unaccompanied.
Children appear to be the victims of a policy that has focused
on housing. Destination towns may have a largely white population
and little expertise in dealing with families who often have
no experience of formal education. The report says families
have been dispersed to areas where there is no school placement
for the children. Neither the DfES nor local authorities appear
to have any significant involvement in dispersal decisions,
which are taken by the National Asylum Support Service (Nass),
run by the Home Office.
The DfES publishes guidance for local authorities on the
education of refugee and asylum seeker children, but only
10 LEAs in the Cambridge research sample referred to the guidance,
and Nass practice appears to ignore it completely.
The education of asylum-seeker and refugee children: a study
of LEA and school values, policies and practices, by Madeleine
Arnot and Halleli Pinson, Faculty of Education, University of
Cambridge. To download this report visit www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/arnot/
(Guardian, 12 July 2005)
The Refugee Women's Resource Project at Asylum Aid has launched
an information resource room, open to legal advisers, support
workers, researchers and asylum-seeking and refugee women. Contact: Asylum Aid, Club Union House, 253-254 Upper Street, London N1 1RY. 0207 354 9631.
For more information visit www.asylumaid.org.uk/pages/the_projects_purpose.html
(inexile magazine, July 2004)
Asylum seeker children are receiving remarkable support from
schools and often act as excellent role models to other pupils,
according to the Office for Standards in Education. But they
also have caused financial and staffing difficulties in several
schools.
The inspectors found that teachers and heads had responded
positively to their new students and deserved credit for their
determination to help them. One headteacher at a school with
few ethnic minority pupils said the arrival of 26 refugee
students had been "better than any training video on
inclusion".
The inspectors said that asylum seeker children inspired
their classmates and teachers because of the seriousness with
which they treated education. Even though all the asylum seeker
pupils spoke little or no English initially, nearly all made
at least satisfactory progress, and many progressed well in
a short time.
(TES, 24 October 2003)
The education of asylum seeker pupils is at www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/index.cfm?fuseaction=pubs.summary&id=3418
Read a summary
of the report
Early in 2003, the Home Office published English language
training for refugees in London and the regions by David
Griffiths, one of a series of scoping studies on what is happening
'on the ground' in support of refugees and their integration.
This preliminary investigation into the provision of English
for speakers of other languages (ESOL) found:
- the main barrier for refugees wanting to access ESOL
is the shortage of classes and long waiting lists across
London and the regions
- recruitment and training of ESOL teachers is a priority,
particularly in the regions where there is a real shortage
of qualified ESOL teachers
- ESOL providers need to take age, gender and class into
account. For example, women could be offered classes at
more 'child friendly' times plus free or low-cost crèche
facilities
- coordination between ESOL providers and refugee community
organisations is crucial for sharing information and expertise,
and for contacting some of the more 'hard-to-reach' communities.
English language training for refugees in London and the
regions can be downloaded from www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
(March, 2003)
Funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, a one-year pilot project
(2003-04) spearheaded by the London Libraries Development
Agency, Welcome to your Library, covered five London boroughs
- Brent, Camden, Enfield, Merton and Newham.
The original Refugee Resources, Collection and Service project,
which won the Libraries Change Lives Award in 2001, was developed
when a Wimbledon-based drop-in centre for refugees, Asylum
Welcome, contacted Merton's library service for help. Library
staff started visiting the centre, found out what languages
the refugees spoke and came back with whatever books they
could find. The librarians then introduced those attending
the centre to the local library, concerned that they needed
to learn how to access books after they had been housed and
settled and no longer needed to attend the drop-in, and because
refugees had started swapping books among themselves.
In 2005, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation awarded extra funding
to extend the pilot project. 19 library services applied and
of them, five were selected to become national public library
service partners. They were the London boroughs of Hillingdon
and Southwark, Leicester City Council, Liverpool City Council,
and Tyne and Wear.
For more information on Welcome
to your Library: connecting public libraries and refugee communities
to nurture learning, well-being and a sense of belonging for
all, visit www.llda.org.uk/cms/contentpage/wtyl
Government plans for the segregated education of asylum seekers
have been challenged by experts after a survey found mainstream
schooling was the highlight of young refugees' lives. The
study by Save the Children and Glasgow City Council, the biggest
survey of asylum seekers in the UK, found that local schools
offered a sanctuary for children who often lived in a culture
of fear and prejudice.
Researchers spoke to more than 700 young refugees in Glasgow
for the study. More than 75% of those questioned said attending
the local school was a positive thing in their lives, and
nearly half said it was the best thing about living in the
UK, allowing them to make friends, socialise, play and learn
English. 87% of the older children said that racism, bullying
and witnessing violence and drug abuse were the hardest things
about living in Glasgow. A third of the refugees questioned
for the study had never previously attended school.
Alison Davies, the director of Save the Children in Scotland,
said: "The fact that schools are these beacons of light in
their lives is giving a very powerful message from the children
themselves. [They are saying] 'please don't isolate us any
more, let us be part of the community'."
The study has recommended that a network of new anti-racism
initiatives be set up across Glasgow, as well as the establishment
of a confidential advice line for young refugees.
(Guardian, 3 October 2002)
One of the UK's most senior black church leaders has backed
the Government's controversial plans to hold asylum seekers
and educate their children in special centres before their
cases are decided on. To read this story in full visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2206250.stm
(BBC, 23 August 2002)
TimeBank, the national volunteering organisation, plans
to launch a pilot refugee mentoring scheme in cities across
the UK. Time to Belong (now Time Together) is thought to be
the UK's largest refugee mentoring project to date, and aims
to build relationships between volunteers and 150 refugees
in Newcastle, Birmingham and Glasgow over the year from summer
2002. The scheme aims to overcome the difficulties and
barriers faced by refugees in the UK.
(Third Sector, 21 August 2002)
This scheme is now called Time Together. For more information
visit www.timetogether.org.uk/
By George Low.
According to a report from the Basic Skills Agency,
England's 300 or more ethnic communities are the best people
to teach, train and support immigrants and asylum seekers
who arrive in this country. Unfortunately, though, government
policy has been for too long one of neglect, blind panic
or prejudice rather than helping these people to start a new
productive life.
A study in 1996 by Professor Roy Carr-Hill, of the London
University Institute of Education, showed the woeful inadequacy
of teaching English and other skills to immigrants, especially
those from Asia. Only one third could speak the language of
their adopted country at survival level, and only 2% could
participate fully in English life. Moreover the statistics
of those with ESOL (English for speakers of other languages)
needs were uncertain at best, and the provision of courses
varied enormously across the land and between ethnic groups.
One in three Punjabi parents could not write their name or
read their children's school timetable.
Since then, things have indeed improved. There is now a national
curriculum and proper standards for ESOL teaching that come
into force in September 2002. The one million or more people
with basic skills and language needs identified by Professor
Carr-Hill are now a priority for the Adult Basic Skills Strategy
Unit at the Department for Education and Skills. Local Learning
and Skills Councils are now mapping the needs of immigrants
and ethnic groups in their areas, and coming up with plans
for funding more courses where there are gaps.
So will David Blunkett's Nationality, Immigration and Asylum
Bill bring order into the education and training of refugees
and asylum seekers? Some have opposed the Bill because, by
concentrating provision at the accommodation centres on airfields
or army camps, it segregates education. However, many further
education and adult teachers disapprove of the Bill for a
different reason because it cuts the students off from their
ethnic communities and from the colleges and voluntary groups
with the most experience of teaching them. In other words
it runs counter to the self-help principle.
ESOL courses are now a major national need, according to
Jane Byatt, who carried out the latest research project on
basic skills schemes run by community groups in partnership
with colleges and adult education centres. But at present
the demand outstrips the supply of teachers and courses.
According to Helen Watts, the education manager of Praxis,
a human rights organisation working with Somali, Rwandan and
Latin-American communities in London, the policy of rural
dispersal and segregation will make their plight worse. She
said: "Their needs are diverse and often include family and
childcare courses as well as English and citizenship."
Research has shown that a high proportion of students (12%)
continue to be involved as teachers or interpreters in their
own communities after their courses have finished. Ms Watts
said: "Education is about liberation, not domestication. Refugees
often have skills and qualifications just waiting to be liberated
and put to good use."
The National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education
(NIACE) has embarked on a skills audit of asylum seekers in
the East Midlands, following a successful pilot scheme in
Leicester. The project, which is being run in common with
a similar scheme in Denmark, is to enable refugees to fit
into the labour market, and, as the 17th century self-help
guru Samuel Smiles would say, "through their own vigorous
efforts and mutual support, render further external assistance
unnecessary".
To read the report on Leicester's pilot scheme visit www.niace.org.uk/projects/ASSET-UK/Default.htm
To read the audit from across the East Midlands, Asset
UK in the East Midlands, visit www.niace.org.uk/projects/ASSET-UK/Default.htm
The Basic Skills Agency has published two booklets aimed
at colleges and voluntary agencies providing ESOL courses
for immigrants and refugees. Both are available free from
the Basic Skills Agency. Tel: 0870 600 2400.
(Independent, 20 June 2002)
The Government has announced that children of asylum-seekers
and refugees are to be excluded from league tables for primary
and secondary schools. The exemption will apply only to those
pupils who have been in the country for less than two years
and whose first language is not English. This marks the Government's
first departure from its insistence that no exceptions will
be made in its assessment regime. Teachers have argued since
league tables were introduced in 1992 that children with learning
difficulties and those whose first language is not English
should not be included.
There are an estimated 65,000 asylum seekers of school age
in Britain, the majority in London and the South East. According
to the Refugee Council, schools have turned pupils away because
of the effects their results can have on league table rankings.
For example, of the 100 children in Lambeth not in school,
95 are asylum seekers and 37 of those have been out of school
for more than six months.
The change will only affect information published on individual
schools and local authorities. National statistics will continue
to be compiled on the same basis. Headteachers welcomed
the announcement but added that fairness demanded that other
groups, such as those with special education needs, should
be treated similarly.
(Times, 21 July 2000 & TES, 28 July 2000)
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