Refugee children and schooling

Niños refugiados y escolaridad

The changes of these last decades on the economic, political and educational levels have had an impact on the institution of the family and in particular the refugee family. In a state of crisis, the refugee family must relearn and situate itself in new living spaces and new time dimensions which brings them to wonder how they can transmit their cultural heritage, their values and how they can just function. The children as well as the parents are seeking new points of reference, new strengths necessary to confront the sometimes very precarious, uncertain situations promising no stable future in the country of refuge.

To help them face these situations, which are very present in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, the association "Appartenances" has executed training programs for interpreters / cultural mediators. These are people who are at a crossroad, having a double "belonging" to the country of refuge and to the country of origin, a duality that is implemented in the coming together of the two cultures.

Such a mandate, having been institutionalized by the Education and Youth Department in the canton of Vaud, has reinforced the importance of this approach within the limits of the public school system and has permitted us to work for five years now with the refugee children, their parents and the Swiss teachers.

By giving some concrete examples of this experience the speaker will stimulate the discussion at a general level about the conditions and the possibilities for refugee families with children in crisis, to adapt to the Western societies of today.