2. What are inclusive practices (on national level) in your country with these groups?

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Dortha Foster
5 years ago
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1 QUESTIONS FOR PARTNER ORGANISATIONS Project KA social inclusion All question refer to the form of Erasmus+: Project description. With your answers we would like to improve project description, in parts which refer to partners inputs in the project. 1. Does your institution have any good practice in the area of support for unacompanied refugee minors and/or support for unacompanied young refugees/migrants in the age group until 25 (young adults)? Action Synergy is working for the upscaling of practices related with the introduction of refugee children in school especially related with the prevention of bullying and discrimination practices. This practice includes training of teachers and application of these techniques in school with a significant importance of drama and role playing methods. However these practices are for refugee children (in general) and they have not been especially developed for unaccompanied young refugees. 2. What are inclusive practices (on national level) in your country with these groups? The right to education in public schools is in theory safeguarded for all unaccompanied minors that reside in the Greek territory, even if their legal status has not been definitely defined. However, a large number of asylum seeking unaccompanied minors fail to be integrated in the educational system. With regard to minors that are accommodated in existing facilities, the situation varies depending on each centre: in some centres, school attendance is required (e.g. in the Hostel of Social Solidarity) while in others it is not (e.g. the accommodation centre in Makrinitsa). An encouraging example is the hospitality centre in Anogeia, Crete. Training is carried out by teachers and professors. Some of the minors have entered Technological Educational Institutes, but because to the absence of fellowships they cannot continue their studies. Therefore, according to data provided by the Naturalisation Committees (Ministry of Interior), the naturalisation procedures for some of them have been accelerated. 3. What are the main issues that shall be improved in the area of shaping the support of minors in transition to adulthood in your country? a.) on the level of institutions and their cooperation: Communication between the institutions Full awareness of the existing legislation and the rights of unaccompanied minors Skills on methodologies that have been designed in order to address the needs of this target group

2 b.) on the level of the competences needed for supporting the minors/young adults on the side of actors supporting them Knowledge of rights Practices for social inclusion More education and training of police and border guards is needed in particular regarding the protection of unaccompanied minors. Remedial teaching c.) do you have any trainings for the actors in thesupport system? No there are not c.) What are the key areas where the youngsters in transition need support? Think of social support, but also fields of learning, in particular social and civil competences, life skills etc. Remedial teaching in order to be able to follow school. This is the most important factor because school attendance will increase their chances for sustainable integration in the society of the host country. Specific issues have to be considered (such as language). 3. What main actors are involved (state institutions, schools, third sector and voluntary/civil society actors)? Schools, education authorities, social services, NGOs working in the sector, vocational training centres, representatives of enterprises (for the part related with the transition to work) 4. What are the main deficits/problems in the cooperation of these actors? - Scarce implementation of the current legislation - Scarce cooperation between different services

3 - Social care does not ensure the passage to school/ vocational education which would increase significantly the transition 5. Are there competence gaps on the side of the staff in these institutions? What qualification offers are currently in place? There is no qualification specifically on dealing with unaccompanied minors. Some in-service training activities are the only ones that exist. Qualifications are generally acquired on the job. 6. Please explain how do you think that project activities can be disseminated in a new and wider context specially how will these activities be implemented in the lkey actor organisations/institutions (please note that there are the following main activities: initial study to map pathways of transition and current practices, workshops and trainings for key actors, workshops for minors and young adults, national seminars, E-Learning platform). Are there some specific areas that show specific need for implementation of such activities and why? Related with the e-learning platform and e-learning course the promotion can be in a European level and relevant experts from all over Europe will be able to participate. The dissemination can be made through the use of existing networks and communication channels of the partners and associated partners involved. Social media and linkedin groups related with the subject should be used in order to ensure that the impact of the project would be spread as widely as it is possible. 5. Please demonstrate the capacity of your organisation to ensure the full achievement of the project objectives, namely: a.) General objective: develop and implement a innovative methodology to foster the inclusive education of unaccompanied minors in trasition to early adulthood through holistic support networks, which facilitate the transition from the youth support and education system to the adult education and employment system; Action Synergy has worked a lot with projects aiming to promote social inclusion for vulnerable target groups This includes development, testing and implementation of methodologies. The wide network of Action Synergy contributes to the participation of all relevant stakeholders.

4 b.) Specific objective 1: to develop and pilot a model of a multi-actor support network, which bridges the current gap in the support of unaccompanied minors in transition to young adulthood. Action Synergy is working with NGOs, schools, education authorities, social services, vocational training centres etc. in order to ensure the widest participation of all the relevant stakeholders in the project. 6. Describe the expertise within your institution directly related to the planned project activities, in particular dissemination and upscaling. Action Synergy is the coordinator of another Erasmus+ Social Inclusion project Youth MIND Education: Youth Migrants /Minorities Inclusion, Non-violence, Diversity Education specifically targeting dissemination and upscaling of existing practices in the field of inclusive education. It is working closely with many stakeholders and has a large network which is useful for dissemination and upscaling. 7. If associated partners will be involved please explain their role in the project and added value to the partnership, their specific expertise, good practices and exloitation and dissemination potential In the project there are going to be involved: - Public schools with high participation of unaccompanied refugee children - NGOs (ARSIS, Greek Refugee Council) which are actively participating in the support of the refugees that are coming in Greece - KEKAPEL (Vocational Training Centre of Lesvos) 8.Has your organisation been cooperating with any oher prganisation involved in the project consortium? If yes, how did the cooperation look like? We have worked together with UNIPEGASO in three different projects. The cooperation was excellent and this is why we are looking forward to further cooperation possibilities.

5 9. Please describe how your organisation and the staff allocated to the project will fully contribute to the project throughout the project life, according to their operational capacity and area of expertise as described. The organisation and the staff has 30 years experience in development and implementing European projects in the field of education and training. The organisation has also, as a coordinator of another similar project, significant experience in upscaling practices. The staff has experience both in issues of social inclusion and in management and coordination and will contribute fully to the achievement of the project objectives. Additional questions: "Please present evidence from your country that the coordination between support systems for minors and support systems for (young) adults is deficient and that better coordination, multi-actor coordination and extended competences of actors within the institutions/organisations is necessary. According to official reports (Policies, Practices and Data on Accompanied Minors) the main conclusions related with the situation of unaccompanied minors from Greece are the following: - The vast majority of unaccompanied minors entering the Greek territory are potential asylum seekers; however, not all of them apply for asylum. Due to the inadequacy of the national legislative framework for the protection of these children, unaccompanied minors who belong to this category are very often victims of exploitation by criminal networks. - In general thetreatment is not different for unaccompanied minors whose age is disputed and relevant procedures have not yet been set in track. - More education and training of police and border guards is needed in particular regarding the protection of unaccompanied minors. - The institution of guardianshipneeds to be improved. - There are noresidence permits exclusively for unaccompanied minors. - Access to health care and education is ensured for all unaccompanied minors without exception, but the ongoing economic crisis on the one hand and other objective difficulties on the other (e.g. lack of remedial teaching) hinder the effective enjoyment of these rights. The same appliesmutatis mutandistothe employment of unaccompanied minors. - There is no detailed record, including the reasons, for unaccompanied minors absconding or leaving the accommodation structures. - There are no adequate measures to facilitate the transition to adulthood. Also point out preblematic situations resulting from the current lack of coordination and resulting gaps in the civic andsocial education of the young adults incl problems in housing, integration in education and lack of employabilty.

6 The difficulties recorded in the integration of unaccompanied minors inthe education system are the following: - A key problem is the absence of a guardian and thus proper legal representation. As a result, enrolment in the school is signed by the social worker accompanying the minor. As recorded in relevant reports, insome cases the competent district attorney interim guardian refused to sign, judging that this was not included in the tasks of an interim guardian. It should also be noted that in an opinion regarding enrolment in a public school of minors without legal documentsthe Legal Council of the Statehas highlighted that these children have the right to enrol in a public school and that the lack of documentationregarding their prior education could be offset by conducting placement examinations, that the Director of the school had to inform the Court about the need to appoint a guardian, that their personal data would have to be filled in on the basis of their statements and finallythat the Juvenile Attorney should take note of the case. - As corroborated by the available statistics, the majority of minors are over 16 years of age, and their priority is finding a job and not their integration in the education system. - A large number of minors, mainly from Afghanistan, are illiterate or have attended school for 1-2 years,thus making it difficult or impossible for them to integrate into the education system in general. - Many children that join the education systemlater abandon their education, since intercultural schools are very few. The vast majority of intercultural schools run in the regions of Attica and Thessaloniki. In total, there are 13 elementary schools (3 in Athens and 9 in Thessaloniki), 8 secondary schools (5in Athens and Thessaloniki) and four high schools ( lyceums ) (3 of them in Athens and Thessaloniki). Moreover, most schools do not offer reception classes or tutorial courses. Usually minors attend Greek language courses either in accommodation facilities or in other centres (salient examples are the Multi-purpose Refugee Centre of the Hellenic Red Cross in Athens, the Greek Council for Refugees, NGO ARSIS, and the hospitality centre in Anogeia, Crete); their integration in the educational system comes at a later time, for those children that will eventually continue their studies in school. If any possible quote literature and formal and informal statements of relevant organisations. Of course other and/or additional evidence for that is also welcome. Please use your own assessment of relevance.

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