A recent report by the charity Refugee Education UK (REUK) and funded by the Bell Foundation highlights the challenges faced by teenage asylum seekers in accessing education in the UK. Many asylum seekers are left in a “no man’s land” for up to a year as schools are reluctant to accept them if they arrive after September. This leaves them vulnerable to isolation, mental health issues, and exploitation.
According to the research, teenage asylum seekers aged 15 to 17, especially those looking to enter year 11, face the most difficulties in accessing education. These young people are at risk of victimization, trafficking, and exploitation due to their vulnerable status.
REUK is calling on the government to include asylum seekers and refugees in the children’s wellbeing bill to tackle school absences and to introduce a strategy for integrating these children faster. The report also suggests incentivizing schools with extra funding to accept in-year arrivals and monitoring asylum seekers and refugees’ access to education.
Barriers identified in the report include a lack of available school places, uncertainty over accommodation, and fear among schools of negative impacts on performance tables and the need for additional English language support. The report calls for the Home Office to factor access to education into dispersal decisions and to provide more advance notice in cases of unavoidable moves.
The Department for Education stated that tackling school absence is a priority, with plans to require councils to maintain registers of children not in school. Overall, the report emphasizes the importance of education for refugee children, urging for better support and access to education for this vulnerable group.
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