Education of refugee children: Support offered by primary schools in Norway and in the Czech Republic
Abstract
The support provided to refugee children in the Czech Republic and in Norway varies significantly. While it is one of the priorities of the educational policy in Norway to offer language training to their refugee children, the Czech Republic fails to adhere to this principle, even though it is guaranteed by the national legislation.
The qualification of teachers to work with refugee children remains one of the largest shortcomings of the Czech system of education in relation to the education of this group of children. Reasons for the vast differences presented lay in the areas of economy, social history, but also in the prevailing national values.
While there is no doubt that Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world with rich experience in immigrant integration, which gives it a great advantage compared to the Czech Republic, it also shows high social sensitivity towards the most vulnerable ones and stresses the values of equity, belonging and inclusion in all their national policies as well as educational practice. This may be indeed the greatest inspiration to the Czech environment.