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Children in Spain have the right to education, and the schooling of children is compulsory from age 6 to 16. This right is not explicitly regulated by the Asylum Law but it is guaranteed by other regulations concerning aliens and children.[1]
Minors’ protection-related issues fall within competence of the Autonomous Communities, which manage education systems on their territory and must guarantee access to all minors living thereon. Asylum seeking children are given access to education within the regular schools of the Autonomous Community in which they are living or they are hosted in.
The scheme followed for integrating asylum seeking children in the school varies depending on the Autonomous Community they are placed in, as each regional Administration manages and organises school systems as they rule. Some Communities count on preparatory classrooms, while others have tutors within the normal class and some others do not offer extra or specialised services in order to ease the integration within the school.
In practice, asylum seeking children are usually enrolled in school, even during the first reception phase, during which they are accommodated in asylum facilities.
Nonetheless, shortcoming concerning children accessing education have been reported concerning children hosted in the CETI in periods of overwhelmed conditions due to extreme overcrowding. Following various reports denouncing the situation by the Ombudsperson, UN bodies and NGOs, in February 2022 the Minister of Education changed the legislation with the aim of guaranteeing the access to education for all children residing in Ceuta and Melilla.[2]
The Royal Decree adopted in March 2022 established the Regulation for the Reception Conditions guarantees children in the Stateless Determination Procedure access to education and other integration programmes.[3]
[1] Article 10, Law 1/1996 of 15 January 1996 on the legal protection of minors, partially modifying the Civil Code and the Law on Civil Procedure, as modified by Law 26/2015, of 28 July, modifying the system for the protection of children and adolescents, available at: https://bit.ly/39KVeSc.
[2] El País, ‘El Ministerio de Educación cambia su normativa para garantizar la plena escolarización de los niños en Melilla’, 17 February 2022, available at: https://bit.ly/3YPmSUc.
[3] Boletín Oficial del Estado, Real Decreto 220/2022, de 29 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento por el que se regula el sistema de acogida en materia de protección internacional, available here.