The flow of new migrants and refugees reaching Europe is likely to continue in the coming years. The EC recognises that education plays a crucial role in helping migrants and refugees settle in new countries and environments.
VINCE identified barriers and mitigating factors for the inclusion of refugees and migrants, visualised in the diagram above. From language learning to the recognition of qualifications, education is part of the integration process. The newcomers face many challenges and among them are obstacles to access the labour market or continue their studies, frequently because their competences are not easily recognised in the host society. Their skills and knowledge may not fit into predefined bureaucratic policies and procedures, documentation is lacking, or the curriculum they followed does not match certification structures in the host country.
Read more about barriers and mitigating factors in Carme Royo’s EPALE blogpost “Giving opportunities to migrants and refugees to get into higher education: setting the right context for learning”.
Barriers and mitigating factors (Royo, C. 2018)
VINCE will develop university staff training in VPL, adapting existing proven VPL methods to meet the specific needs of newcomers so that they can access HE and more easily integrate into European society. The process will include the design of a set of guidelines, containing fundamental information on the culture and expectations of Europe, the host country, HE in general, the HE institution in particular, and the VPL arrangements and will represent a key tool in designing the training course for HE teachers, validators, advisors and administrators.
The adapted VPL procedures will be trialled with candidates who are themselves newcomers. NGOs will be actively involved in the project, as full or associate partners, to ensure that the target users and the ultimate beneficiaries are reached at grassroots level and that their interests are represented in all the project phases. The outputs of the project will form the basis of policy recommendations targeted at decision makers and institutional learners.
EU Project Identification Number: Project 580329-EPP-1-2016-1-BE-EPPKA3-IPI-SOC-IN.
The Project Timeline
1. PEER LEARNING SEMINAR
Working in transnational teams: A common view of the situation of newcomers and a common understanding of validation for refugees and migrants was developed.
2. GOOD PRACTICE COLLECTION
Collection of good practices examples: Outcomes of this phase can be found at Validation in Europe and Experiences.
3. VALIDATION GUIDELINES
Guidelines for Higher Education Staff and Validation Professionals: How to help refugees and migrants to access higher education at their institutions.
4. VALIDATION TRAINING
Training of higher education staff and validation professionals: How to support refugees and migrants in accessing higher education through validation procedures.
5. POLICY RECOMMENDATION
Based on the project outcomes policy recommendations are developed. They will be available until the end of the project on the VINCE platform.