Together with Migrant Children, Public Law Project and Garden Court Chambers are pleased to announce the launch of the report ‘Experiences of Accessing Education in Asylum Accommodation’, following a six-month research project funded by ILPA’s Strategic Legal Fund.
Together with Migrant Children frequently works with children who experience delays in accessing school places when placed in asylum support accommodation. This includes delays of over eight weeks for children waiting on school places where there are large concentrations of asylum support accommodation, or where interim accommodation (such as hotels) have been used at short notice across the country. A key issue is when and where children are dispersed to, which often results in children needing to change schools mid-academic year.
The Home Office’s allocation of asylum accommodation policy assumes that there is a good, blanket availability of school places nationwide. However, Together with Migrant Children was concerned that the policy did not appear to take into account the availability of school places on an area-by-area basis, meaning that some children are placed in areas where there is a chronic shortage of school places, generally in areas of already higher deprivation where accommodation is cheaper to source.
The report considers:
The experiences of organisations who advocate for asylum seeking children.
The experiences of children and the impact of delays starting school on their wellbeing and development.
The trend of education delays and school place availability in the context of NASS accommodation.
The report launch will set out overview of the key findings, the legal issues that arise, and be a forum to discuss next steps for achieving systemic change.
You can download a copy of the report here
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