Beyond acess: empowering migrant and refugee students

• In Event: Roundtable Group 6
  In Refereed Roundtable Session: Enabling the capacities to act for migrant and refugee students: the Colombian case.

Proposal

Juntos Aprendemos (JA) is a USAID funded project that aims to improve access to and the quality of education for children and adolescents in Colombian cities facing an influx of Venezuelan migrants and refugees. The program operates in nine cities: Barranquilla, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Medellín, Riohacha, and Santa Marta. As part of USAID's New Partnership Initiative (NPI), JA collaborates closely with three partners: Fundación Carvajal, Parque Explora, and Proantioquia. Together, they implement school activities to improve education quality and strengthen the relationship between families, schools, civil society organizations, teachers, and the community in general.

JA's main focus regarding migration dynamics is to establish schools as inclusive spaces that, through coordinated and intentional efforts, foster the social and economic integration of migrant children, adolescents, and their families. Based on JA's experience collaborating with the Ministry of Education, local authorities, civil society organizations, schools, and teachers, three essential factors must be addressed to empower migrant and refugee students.

These three aspects will be discussed in the panel and include:

The importance of public policies to guarantee access but also educational trajectories:

The first step in empowering migrant and refugee students is to ensure education access regardless of their documentation or migratory status. Colombia has made remarkable efforts in constructing and implementing inclusive public policies. The success of these policies can be attributed to the coordination between the education sector and migration authority. Together, they have formulated instruments like the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), enabling students to pursue education and develop their capacity to act.
JA has supported the Colombian government in inter-institutional coordination and is assisting the Ministry of Education in disseminating public policies related to school access for migrant and refugee children.

Helping local authorities (Secretaries of Education) to address migration challenges in schools and communities:

The Venezuelan migration poses challenges for Secretaries of Education (SoEs) due to the high number of students and the rapid transformation of the enrollment process. JA supports SoEs to address these challenges, aiming to strengthen their preparedness for future crises. JA assists SoEs in (i) implementing a migration approach in the education community, involving public servants and teachers, and (ii) enhancing their knowledge and capacities to facilitate migrant and refugee students' access to TPS, improving their retention and educational trajectories.

Understanding migrant and refugee students needs to allow them to develop their agency:

Migration processes, educational disparities in home countries, and the challenges of settling in a host community create unique needs for migrant and refugee students. JA plays a crucial role in addressing these needs. For instance, (i) many Venezuelan students are overage for their grade level, and JA implements Accelerated Education Models (AEMs) to help them overcome this barrier and transition into regular classrooms. (ii) Moreover, JA recognizes the importance of enhancing social-emotional learning skills for migrant and refugee students. Through various school activities, JA fosters confidence, resilience in social settings, and a sense of belonging among these students.

Author

• Nicolas Mantilla, Juntos Aprendemos - USAID