Life lessons
With reporting from Croatia, Greece and U.S.A.
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“For me, it is hard, I cannot speak Croatian. But still, I go.”
Reza, a 16-year-old refugee from Iran, still pursues an education despite the challenges of a language barrier and being deported from Austria back to a reception center in Kutina, Croatia. Education is considered the key to a future, yet for many like Reza—part of a generation displaced by war, persecution or natural disaster—it can be difficult to attain. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), only half of refugee children have access to primary education, compared to a global average of over 90 percent. This disparity increases with age, with an estimated 22 percent of refugee adolescents attending secondary school and less than one percent attending university. 
Although from different places, Rama, Farhad and Yolla share the same willingness to work hard on their education, to strive for a better life. Tania, as a teacher, wants to help everyone who has the will to do so.
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“We know there’s the capacity of the individuals and the desire to learn, sometimes even placing education above that of food and water,” said Nick Sabato, Director of Humanitarian Education at Ed Plus at Arizona State University.
Education for Humanity is a young initiative within Ed Plus which is home to ASU online classes. It aims to provide some tertiary education, college preparatory resources, and digital technologies to internally displaced persons and refugees all around the world. Sabato said the idea of refugee education is approached with a great deal of humility.
“It’s simply not a space that we’ve been involved in before,” he said. “We’re doing kind of a broad survey of the educational landscape from a humanitarian perspective, and seeing what needs are currently being met. And a lot of that is the primary education sector, there’s a lot of players in that field.”
“We know there’s the capacity of the individuals and the desire to learn, sometimes even placing education above that of food and water,” said Nick Sabato, Director of Humanitarian Education at Ed Plus at Arizona State University.
Education for Humanity is a young initiative within Ed Plus which is home to ASU online classes. It aims to provide some tertiary education, college preparatory resources, and digital technologies to internally displaced persons and refugees all around the world. Sabato said the idea of refugee education is approached with a great deal of humility.
“It’s simply not a space that we’ve been involved in before,” he said. “We’re doing kind of a broad survey of the educational landscape from a humanitarian perspective, and seeing what needs are currently being met. And a lot of that is the primary education sector, there’s a lot of players in that field.”
A trilingual school in Greece
Refugee children currently located in Greece have the opportunity to pursue an education. The non-government organization (NGO), Elix, started an educational project in Athens during the summer of 2016. Since then, it has expanded to other Greek cities, including Thessaloniki where over 300 children are registered.
English, Greek, and Arabic construct the main lessons, but there are other weekly activities that incorporate civic skills and daily life skills, so that these displaced children can cope with the new society they are in.
Refugee children currently located in Greece have the opportunity to pursue an education. The non-government organization (NGO), Elix, started an educational project in Athens during the summer of 2016. Since then, it has expanded to other Greek cities, including Thessaloniki where over 300 children are registered.
English, Greek, and Arabic construct the main lessons, but there are other weekly activities that incorporate civic skills and daily life skills, so that these displaced children can cope with the new society they are in.
“I know what it is like to be in a country where you don’t speak their language, and don’t know anyone,” said Tania Andrias, a teacher at the school who comes from Iraq.
Tania Andrias and Stefanos Katsoulis are a part of Elix's programe which provides education for children of refugees (Photo Credit: Katarina Šapina) |
Having lived in Greece for the past 12 years, Andrias teaches children between the ages of 7 and 17, saying she feels close to those children and even their parents, sharing as she does their language and culture.
"I thought that this is what I can give to these people, like give them their voice, their political talk and communicate, because I know what is like to be in a country where you don’t speak their language and don’t know anyone." |
Andrias says that students are not graded in Greece so as to avoid any undue pressure. Should a student have to leave, the continuation of their education depends upon the new asylum country’s system. They could immediately start classes with peers or be held back a grade, depending on the school system of the new host country.
Students missing weeks, months, or years of school are often lacking the development and skills of their peers. Programs such as Education for Humanity could bridge the gap.
Students missing weeks, months, or years of school are often lacking the development and skills of their peers. Programs such as Education for Humanity could bridge the gap.
“The number one [challenge] is language,” said Sabato.“Honestly, there’s such a challenge particularly in refugee populations as they are hosted in a country that is often providing education in a language that is not familiar. So that challenge, not to mention the curricular differences in general, presents just a very basic impediment to education.”
Sabato said that while in western Rwanda, Education for Humanity employees had the opportunity to visit a refugee camp, meet all of the students and some of their families inside of their homes.
“This offers a tremendous perspective of daily life and kind of where education might land in the hierarchy of needs,” Sabato explained.
“One component that we learned from that is that so many individuals use role models as a way of envisioning what their own future might look like.”
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Due to free public transport being cancelled, parents who live |
Refugee reception centers that have role models who have utilized education as a pathway to employment can help asylum seekers assimilate, as another challenge facing some students and families is adjusting to western standards and values.
In Thessaloniki, this problem is magnified by the fact that families often are accommodated outside of the city center. Living further away from education facilities makes it challenging for parents who must escort one or more children on a daily basis, as it can be expensive.
Stefanos Katsoulis, the field coordinators whose job it is to care for the implementation of the project, said that the Municipality of Thessaloniki used to provide monthly bus tickets, which boosted attendance. Once the ticket program ended, parents were left without assistance, resulting in a decline in participation.
In Thessaloniki, this problem is magnified by the fact that families often are accommodated outside of the city center. Living further away from education facilities makes it challenging for parents who must escort one or more children on a daily basis, as it can be expensive.
Stefanos Katsoulis, the field coordinators whose job it is to care for the implementation of the project, said that the Municipality of Thessaloniki used to provide monthly bus tickets, which boosted attendance. Once the ticket program ended, parents were left without assistance, resulting in a decline in participation.
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An outdated law While the current refugee crisis could not have been predicted, the education of asylum seekers in Croatia is still regulated by a law from 2007. As it stands, refugees like Yousif do not have a clearly defined status. While in Kutina, asylum-seeking children have the status of “guest”, which does not exist in the Croatian education system. Such students are not permitted to have the status of “student”, as they do not have a Personal Identification Number (Known as an "OIB" in Croatia), a necessity for school enrollment. All students must sign in to a system for data and information management called E-Matica, but without a PIN, refugee children are unable to use the system. |
Rama Yousuf, a second grade student at Kutina, enjoys spending time with new friends |
The 2007 law also mandates that each asylum seeker learn the Croatian language, for which the Ministry of Science and Education in Croatia provides a class. The course, which runs 70 hours over six months, must be passed before students can receive grades for school.
In Kutina, a big problem is that the school does not have a translator, so while waiting for their Croatian course to start, children attend regular class immersed in a language they cannot understand.
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“I think the answer to the question is, ‘we are all in this together,’” said Sabato. “Here at ASU, in EdPlus, in this initiative, we understand some of the value that we can bring is in terms of taking individuals that have had secondary school preparation and providing some training, employment and employment resources that help them get to that next level.”
With so many agencies, schools, countries, governments, etc. working together, Sabato said it is crucial to leverage each institution’s relative strengths to better understand the unique pathway of each student.
“Every individual has a different dream, every individual has a different specific employment outcome that they’d like to reach,” Sabato said. “I think at the end of the day, out of any individual that I’ve met—regardless of their situation—people want to provide something of value and people want to be able to provide for their families. And personally, I see education as the tool to be able to enable that.”
With so many agencies, schools, countries, governments, etc. working together, Sabato said it is crucial to leverage each institution’s relative strengths to better understand the unique pathway of each student.
“Every individual has a different dream, every individual has a different specific employment outcome that they’d like to reach,” Sabato said. “I think at the end of the day, out of any individual that I’ve met—regardless of their situation—people want to provide something of value and people want to be able to provide for their families. And personally, I see education as the tool to be able to enable that.”
Daily life in Mate Lovrak School in Kutina, Croatia (Photo Credit: Katarina Šapina)