Meeting the unique needs of refugee learners
With last week being Refugee Week (14-20 June), - now is the ideal time to consider the positive and practical ways we can support more refugee learners through education in Sussex.
There are currently 65 million displaced people in the world – equivalent to the population of the UK. Shockingly, of those 65 million, only 1% is in higher education. And yet higher education opens access to better employment and health choices and life chances.
So how can we support more refugee learners to overcome the significant language, cultural and practical barriers standing in the way of the academic drive and high aspirations they often arrive with?
The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is ‘We Cannot Walk Alone’ and it’s one we – having commissioned the University of Sussex report ‘Improving Education for Refugee Background Students: Research Findings’ – completely agree with. Refugee learners cannot hope to negotiate and benefit from our complex education system alone.
To meet their needs we need to work imaginatively and collaboratively to:
- Provide more accessible information on our education system – including on the wealth of complex vocational and academic pathways
- Introduce more peer mentoring programmes to inspire education progression
- Simplify information about the practical and financial support available
- Make more financial support available. Depending on their status, refugees and asylum seekers can be closed out of higher education as they cannot access the student loans system and are required to pay higher international fees
- Introduce effective bridging programmes that can address gaps in education
- Consider more flexible entry requirements that recognise the non-standard backgrounds of refugee students (for example, alternatives to GCSE English)
- Work towards a kitemark system for refugee learners, similar to those for care leavers (the University of Sussex is pioneering the way in this area and has already achieved one)
To find out more about the critical needs of refugee learners click here.
And to discover more about the practical, positive steps your institution can take to meet the unique needs of refugee learners, check out our University of Sussex commissioned report here.