Author
Article 13(2) of the International Protection Act states that asylum-seekers shall have access to state-funded education and training. This general statement is complemented by the Reception Regulations, wherein asylum-seeking children are entitled to access the education system in the same manner as Maltese nationals, and this may only be postponed for up to three months from the date of submission of the asylum application. This three-month period may be extended to one year “where specific education is provided in order to facilitate access to the education system”.[1] Primary and secondary education is offered to asylum-seekers up to the age of 15-16, as this is also the cut-off date for Maltese students. Access to state schools is free of charge. These rules apply to primary and secondary education.
The Ministry for Education and Employment established a Migrant Learners’ Unit which seeks to promote the inclusion of newly arrived learners into the education system. They provide guidance and information about the Maltese educational system to assist migrants.
In practice, children present with their families do attend school. Children with particular needs are treated in the same manner as Maltese children with particular needs, whereby a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) may be appointed to provide individual attention to the child. Yet it is noted that in the situation of migrant or refugee children, language issues are not appropriately provided for, with possible implications on the child’s long-term development.
Access to education for unaccompanied children is a longstanding issue, mainly due to the children’s preferences to work, difficulties settling within the national educational system and, in a worrying number of cases, their eventual disappearance.
Adults and young asylum-seekers are eligible to apply to be exempted from fees at state educational institutions – including the University of Malta – vocational training courses, language lessons, and other adult education classes. Vocational training courses offered by JobsPlus, the State-run job placement service, are also accessible to asylum-seekers.
NGOs observed that, in recent years, beneficiaries of protection are increasingly making use of these educational services, primarily since information on their availability is becoming available to the various communities through NGO activities and increased openness by the relevant governmental authorities.
Several NGOs also offer free language classes in English or Maltese, but this service is not provided within reception centres.
Moreover, the Government introduced, in 2018, the ‘I belong” Programme’, an initiative run by the Integration Unit. The initiative consists of English and Maltese language courses and basic cultural and societal orientation as part of an integration process, generally targeting applicants of long-term residence but open to anyone. It is open to all persons of migrant background, meaning asylum-seekers are able to benefit from it. The courses continue to run.
Furthermore, in 2019 (revised in 2022) the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation adopted ‘A Policy on Inclusive Education in Schools: Route to Quality Inclusion’[2]. The report specifically mentions asylum-seekers in its section on ‘Multiculturalism and Language Diversity’, with focus placed on the need for educators to be adequately trained on inclusive education in order to deal with increasingly diverse classrooms.
In recent years, NGOs noticed an increase in the number of children not granted free access to State education, as a result of a stricter approach by the relevant authorities towards this entitlement. The majority of cases seen involved children granted protection in other EU MS, in Malta as part of attempts to reunite with family or community members.
Where such children are not formally entitled to free State education, they are required to pay the relevant fees being a total of €465.88 for Primary School, €559.05 for Secondary School and €652.22 for High Secondary School.
[1] Regulation 9(2) of the Reception Regulations, Subsidiary Legislation 420.06 of the Laws of Malta.
[2] Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation, A Policy on Inclusive Education in Schools: Route to Quality Inclusion, 2019, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yj5jea2r.