The Right to Education of Asylum-Seeking Minors

THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION OF ASYLUM-SEEKING MINORS CASE STUDY SERBIA By PhD Candidate Tijana Tešanović University of Education Freiburg 03.09.2019 Prof. Dr. Albert Scherr, PhD Supervisor I Prof. Dr. Uwe Bittlingmayer, PhD Supervisor II The Right to Education of Asylum-Seeking Minors Case Study Serbia Von der Pädagogischen Hochschule Freiburg zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) genehmigte Dissertation Von Tijana Tešanović aus Novi Sad, Serbien Promotionsfach: Soziologie Erstgutacher: Prof. Dr. Albert Scherr Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Uwe H. Bittlingmayer Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 03. März 2020 Acknowledgements Foremost, I would like to express my eternal gratitude to my PhD mentor, Prof. Dr. Albert Scherr, for his trust in me and my research proposal back in Spring 2015 when I contacted him with a kind request to supervise my research, and for choosing me to be one of his students. I feel blessed to have found such an expert, who has provided his unconditional support throughout the whole process. Not only did he provide his expertise and valuable advice whenever I needed it, but he also supported me in my professional engagements and, among other things, wrote recommendation letters. One of which secured me the Erasmus + Traineeship scholarship and excellent academic position with the Vienna Master of Arts in Human Rights at the University of Vienna. I could not have imagined having a better mentor and for this I stay eternally deeply indebted. In addition, I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Uwe Bittlingmayer, who acted in a supervisor capacity as well. He took the time to see me when I needed him and for his valuable and insightful comments and guidance. Many thanks go to Dr. Gökçen Yüksel from the University of Education Freiburg for all her assistance, kindness and warmth. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Snežana Vuković from the Ministry of Education in Serbia for the many materials and documents she has provided, for her trust in my research work and unreserved support. In relation to that, I would like to thank Ivana Cenerić from Serbia’s Centre for Education Policy, who, together with Dr. Vuković, granted me access to schools involved in the process of the inclusion of ASMs in education system. Immense gratitude goes to Ms. Mira Nikolić Aleksić, deputy director and math teacher in primary school “Jovan Ristić” in Borča, for her availability and help in completing this project. She allowed me to collect data on the ground through interviews with her, her staff and students, in particular ASMs. She also lended her approval for me to be present as an observer during the lectures. Furthermore, I would like to thank Mr. Nenad Ćirić, director of the primary school for education of adults, “Branko Pešić”, for an in-depth interview, approval of my visit and observation mission as well as the possibility to conduct interviews with school staff and ASMs. I thank for their great contribution in the field data collection process to Ms. Dragana Rajić, consultant at the Commissariat for refugees and migration, Ms. Đurđa Surlan, director of Krnjača refugee camp, Ms. Marina Todić, pedagogist in the primary school “Rade Drainac,” Ms. Valentina Panđeita, director of the primary school “Jovan Cvijić,” Ms. Kristina Limić, pedagogist at High School for Textile Design, and Ms. Branka Damjanović, director of the primary school for education of adults “Đuro Salaj.” Special thanks go to ASMs for their contribution to this research project. It is for their welfare that this work is devoted to. This list of thanks is not an exhausting list, as it is hard to name all the good people, devoted school staff, staff of refugee camps, and NGOs, that I have interviewed over the period of four years. 2 Therefore, I extend my thanks to all concerned persons who cooperated with me in this regard. I submit my heartiest gratitude to my traineeship supervisor at the Vienna Master in Human Rights, Mag. Marijana Grandits, for her academic advice and guidance that have greatly enriched my dissertation as well as for her understanding and support, granting me free days so that I could take care of my PhD work and provide care for my daughter whenever she needed me. For this personal and professional growth I thank the whole team, including our master programme student, Kaitlyn Rice, for her valuable comments and proofreading services. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my mother, Goca, for her unconditional love and support. Without her support none of this would be possible. To my dad, Dragiša, and my brother, Ivan, who has always been my role-model and who has made sure I got this far. I thank my parents in law, Mile and Nena, especially my mother in law, Nena, for all her visits to take care of my daughter while I was working on my dissertation, and who even accompanied me on my field trips during the breastfeeding period. Thank you to my mom and Aunt Mira for babysitting as well, for all the support and love these three women provided like only moms can give. Some special words of gratitude go to my sisters and brother in law Nina, Gaga and Stef, and to all my family members including my best friends Jelena, Daca and Sale for their support, enthusiasm and pride. Last but not the least, my heart knows no bounds in expressing my cordial gratitude to my husband Mićo. He has been and continues to be my main pillar of support. I thank him for this and for all his love and faith, for starting a family with me and welcoming our first child, Helena. Helena, you are my inspiration and eternal sunshine. 3 Abstract At the time of the outbreak of the so-called refugee crisis, only the non-governmental sector in Serbia responded to the situation by providing assistance to any people in need. The respective activities that were carried out consisted mostly of humanitarian aid, medical assistance, and providing both psycho-social and legal-informative support. Starting in 2015, the attention grew and shifted to providing better care of asylum-seeking minors. However, it was only in late 2016 that the Republic of Serbia started a project related to inclusion of Asylum-Seeking Minors (ASMs) into its education system. The project’s results in 2017 were still modest, since only approx. 60 asylum seeking minors out of 3031 were included in Serbia’s education system. In the school year 2018/2019, in particular until February 2019, 98,22 percent of preschool-aged or elementary- school-aged ASMs who were placed in reception centers were included in the education system. This PhD research project represents the study of how the basic human right, the right to education, is granted in a country perceived as a transit country by both, ASMs and domestic authorities. It represents a human rights-based approach to education and integration, which should contribute to empowerment of the right-holder, i.e. asylum-seeking minors, and accountability of the duty- bearer. In order to assess the government’s success in granting the right to education, it’s obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, was linked with the human rights framework for education. Furthermore, the way the country’s political determination to join the EU, existing social, cultural, and political factors in the country as well as the insufficient asylum system affect the right to education of ASMs were examined. Apart from the empowerment of the right-holder and identification of the potential improvements on the governments side, one of the aims of the research was to identify examples/elements of good practice in Serbian aspect. This is used as an argument for (un)successful implementation of the right to education, since schools are the ones directly implementing adopted legislation, strategies and policies, and therefore reveal potential lack of political willingness to implement them or the false intentions of the state on the way it presents itself before the international community. Therefore, elements of good practice were identified and one of the central findings with respect to providing the right to education for ASMs, is that Serbia, and, more specifically, its dedicated educators and NGO staff, have done an applaudable job. Though room for improvement remains, the efforts of the state, school personnel, family members of ASMs and caring NGO workers have made the right to education a reality for ASMs who seek it. 4 Contents Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 12 State of Research ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Chapter I ...................................................................................................................................................... 49 1. The right to education .......................................................................................................................... 49 2. International Legal Standards on the right to education ...................................................................... 60 3. Defining asylum-seeking minors ........................................................................................................

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