Non-formal education: a way out : the realisation of the right to education of refugees through non- formal education activities in Greece

Abstract

Education is a human right to which any child should have access; yet, the provision of education in emergency situations is particularly difficult and education is often left behind. This holds true when dealing with refugee children´s education as well: for those children, education is a key element that enables their protection and development. Education goes beyond formal and institutionalized provisions provided by the state. Non-formal education has a great potential to improve the realisation of the right to education. Specifically, in emergency settings it gives a superb response to the particular educational needs of refugee children. The flexibility offered by this form of education and its content based on human rights, reconstruction, provision of life skills and psychosocial rehabilitation, make it a highly suitable tool for the realisation of the right to education of refugee children. The so-called refugee crisis that Greece had to face in 2015 led to more than 60,000 refugees stuck in the country whose human rights were violated every day and the right to education was not an exception. In this context, non - formal education proved to be the only solution that responded to refugee children´s learning needs. This study aims to highlight the main features of this process and prove non-formal education as a valid option for the schooling of refugee children.