Refugee pupils schooled in their rights with new welcome packs

Refugee children are to be informed of their educational rights through new packs issued by a teachers’ union.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s largest union for teachers and lecturers, launched the welcome packs at Hillhead High School in Glasgow.

The packs are designed for three age ranges (P1-P4, P5-S3 and S4-S6), and welcome young people and their parents to Scotland and inform them of their rights in Scottish education.

The packs contain a series of booklets with illustrations commissioned from a local artist and information on Scotland and its education system.

Speaking at the launch event was Roza Salih, one of the seven “Glasgow Girls” who campaign against dawn raids on asylum seekers and the removal of school friends.

She said: “I wish my parents had this guidance available to them when I was a child and it would have made my life much easier.

“I would like to thank the EIS for allowing me to contribute to the focus on university education within the booklets written for senior students and their parents and carers.

“I hope that the advice about scholarships for asylum seekers will help these young people to get over the barriers that I had to face in trying to access higher education myself.”

The packs will be sent to all 32 local authorities, with 4,000 ready to ship.

EIS president Bill Ramsay said: “The EIS is proud to launch these new packs, which will be given to young people who arrive in Scotland as refugees or migrants to help welcome them to their new school communities.

“We hope that these packs can, in a small but meaningful way, help to ease the often challenging transition to a new country for these young people.”

The welcome packs also contain stationery and books gifted by the EIS and sister education union the American Federation of Teachers.