On June 9th, the new Brussels-based NGO working on migrant education Multi Kulti Collective recently co-founded together with 24 EU partners – SIRIUS secured EU co-funding for the next four years. The approval of the project submission by the European Commission shows that SIRIUS as a Policy Network on Migrant Education is considered to be relevant for stakeholders, policy makers and the privileged European level platform for dialogue, exchange of good practices, research and advocacy in the field of migrant and refugee education.
Building on the practical learnings and tools designed from 2012-2016, the network will now use these and other EU tools to concretely impact policy reform agendas at national, local/regional and, where possible, at European level. SIRIUS will feed the best evidence and practice into the major education policy debates by mobilising mainstream migration and education activities and building the capacity of migrant and grassroots education initiatives. SIRIUS will feed this inclusive evidence-based policy-making and collaboration by:
- Analysing and co-creating knowledge on the main challenges and policy approaches for inclusive education for children and young people with a migrant background, with special attention to refugees, unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable learners;
- Identifying, sharing and promoting good policy practice and stimulating innovation and mainstreaming in policy development, experimentation and implementation;
- Disseminating results more widely and in more policy-friendly formats such as recommendations, guidance and tools.
- To accomplish the above, SIRIUS will undertake a series of strategic activities on national and international level, such as:National and regional policy roundtables for inclusive policymaking;
- SIRIUS-facilitated peer learning for reforming countries or cities in the shape of study visits promoting transnational learning between various types of stakeholders, such as policymakers, practitioners, migrant-led education initiatives and organisations, etc.;
- SIRIUS monitoring reports on the most significant changes in policy, implementation and knowledge for ensuring inclusive education environments for children and young people with a migrant background in the Member States;
- SIRIUS annual policy conference.
A core aspect of the SIRIUS mission is to facilitate a cross-sector approach bringing together researchers, policymakers, practitioners in the field of migrant education, and migrants and refugees themselves. Together, they will jointly identify challenges and needs, exchange good practices and find collaborative ways to accomplish mutual goals. SIRIUS is committed to ensuring that all activities encourage exchange and collaboration among these groups of actors. It is SIRIUS’ conviction that only multi-stakeholder cooperation can achieve process on equal education opportunities for migrant and refugee children and youth.
We are thrilled about this great news because it will enable SIRIUS to improve the work the Network has been doing since 2012. We do hope to be able to promote some changes so that migrants and refugees have the same opportunities in education as their native peers.