The ICAE Executive decided at its last meeting that as one of the thematic contributions to the next UNESCO World Conference on Adult Education, Brazil 2009, migration and integration are of great importance from a civil society as well as a professional perspective.

ICAE and its members have already substantial experiences in this thematic area. A process of information, consultation, and cooperation was strengthened via a major conference that took place last year. This virtual seminar will further contribute.

Concepts and meanings of migration and integration

To adult educators, as to social and economic planners, demographic change has tended to mean an ageing longer-living population with smaller young and larger older age cohorts, especially in the older industrialised countries but spreading to other societies as they become more wealthy and urbanised. However, migration and consequently integration have become very major demographically driven policy issues in recent times. There are huge challenges for adult education, as for the social structure and social cohesion more generally.

The report of the Global Commission on International Migration http://www.gcim.org/attachements/gcim-complete-report-2005.pdf prepared on behalf of the UN Secretary-General in 2006 on Migration in an Interconnected World: New Directions for Action concludes “that the international community has failed to capitalize on the opportunities and to meet the challenges associated with international migration. New approaches are required to correct this situation.”

But what new approaches?  It may help to analyse the old approaches and try to see better what has failed and why. That task waits to be done.

Numbers of migrants vary and are unreliable, but are continuously on the rise. Numbers as high as 200 million people are asserted; and tens of millions move just in the larger populated countries as internal migration.

Migration takes many forms and is driven by both economic and political factors. Much migration is not planned. People leave their countries for many reasons: to seek political asylum, as refugees, to join families, or find better economic opportunities.

Migration has big implications for ‘exporting’ as well as ‘receiving’ countries. Some migration is temporary (eg. ‘guest workers’ and those on short term work permits); some is permanent; some is intended as temporary but changes to become permanent.

Where there is migration, people should be prepared for this big step. Preparation can take the form of learning the language in advance, getting a better understanding of the new culture and conditions, or getting proper training for the new job and employment that is waiting.

When there is migration, then integration should follow. What does this actually mean? Is it really different from assimilation? People in receiving countries should be prepared to respect cultural diversity  but what realities do most migrants encounter? There have been large and usually negative changes of attitude towards immigrants in many countries of late: often the economic need for new labour is in conflict with anxiety about being ‘swamped by foreigners’, and about unfamiliar cultures. Globalisation goes in hand with new forms of nationalism.

Learning from a Conference

Adult learning, education and training have a vital role to play for migrants in both sending and receiving countries. The diversity of realities is undeniably high, but people have a lot to learn from one another.

We have begun this learning process with a major conference which could be a starting point for a global network on Migration and Integration of adult education associations, migrant organisations, and those in some way preparing or receiving migrants through education. ICAE Virtual Seminar participants could helpfully look at what was discussed. One of the Conference outcomes is presented here.

Conference Statement and Report on
The Right to Education in the Context of Migration and Integration

More than two hundred participants from about fifty countries came together in Bonn 15-16 November 2007 to inform one another and to search for ways to cooperate more closely in the future, in the complex and diverse field of migration and integration through adult education.

The main goal was to create a forum to exchange ideas and experiences about the challenges of migration processes for European and international cooperation in the field of adult education, including contributions towards the development of civil societies through integration processes in the countries of immigration.

Organisers and conference context
The Conference had as main partners the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), and the German Adult Education Association (DVV), representing global, European and national dimensions. Sponsors included German Ministries, and especially TELC, the European Language Certificates company. The Deutsche Welle served as Media partner. The conference was jointly planned and organized by dvv international.

Participants represented the rich background of professional associations, non-governmental and community-based organisations, governments, and universities. Aspects of gender mainstreaming were strongly featured in the different thematic keynotes, forums and workshops.

International participants especially appreciated being informed of recent developments in adult education and integration policy and practice in Germany, which deals with a wide range of social, cultural and educational issues. This contributed to the understanding that we can all learn from one another. Conversely, European and German participants learned much from the global perspectives  introduced by colleagues from African, Asian and Latin American countries.   

The presentation of different concepts of education in international cooperation is one way to contribute to a change in perspective  viewing migration more as an opportunity than as a threat. As the Global Commission on International Migration put it, this is a trans-national phenomenon; migration and integration must be regarded as two sides of the same coin. The impact on development aid and cooperation must be explored further.
 

The Right to Learn

Learning societies need lifelong learning, and structures to support learning, education and training throughout the lifetime, as a child or as a younger or older adult, be it informal, non-formal or formal. Recognizing the diversity of adult education cultures in the different countries and regions, different intercultural learning approaches were discussed.

Participants analysed in detail experiences in language learning. This was seen as crucial to integration and participation. Assessing and testing language competences were looked at as a criterion for immigration. Are the diversity and the plurality of languages of immigrants a potential or a threat? How does adult education enhance a multilingual society, and what can adult education do to open the receiving society inter-culturally?

A second forum examined the right to education, learning and training as a foundation for the equal rights of migrants in integration and participation. Recognition by host countries of migrants’ formal and non-formal qualifications, and their further up-grading within processes of lifelong learning for all, are of great importance. How can host countries appreciate diversity and create space for political participation for people with a migration background? What are the conditions to guarantee access, availability, acceptability and adaptability of education especially to vulnerable and silent groups such as migrant women and young refugees?

A forum on migration and development looked at the educational needs of migrants. What can adult education do before emigration, and after arrival in the new country? How can this work include all members of the families? Who are the important actors in this process?  The discussion centred on issues of brain drain, brain gain, and brain circulation  who gains from migration? There is a clear indication that money transfers of migrants to their home countries (remittances) exceed development aid flows in many countries. Finally, this forum analysed educational needs from processes of internal migration.

The way ahead          

              
For this event the organisers built on such recent meetings of adult educators as the DVV Berlin convention Learn Something New  Shape the Future  Bring People Together in May 2006, the ICAE SEVENTH WORLD ASSEMBLY on Adults´ Right to Learn: Convergence, Solidarity and Action in January 2007, and the EAEA conference on Equal Opportunities for All  the Value of Adult Learning Promoting Equality, in December 2007. They also looked towards the major forthcoming UNESCO world conference on adult education, CONFINTEA VI in 2009 in Brazil, and its regional preparatory conferences in 2008, where issues of adult education in migration and integration should be significant.

ICAE, EAEA, DVV and the participants of this conference on migration and integration will try to ensure that the most pressing and urgent issues of poverty reduction and social inclusion - and the crucial role that adult education has to play in all these areas through civic education and skills training as well as literacy and basic education - shall be treated with more professionalism and solidarity in the future. The conference strengthened the foundations for all these processes. It increased capacities and the motivation of the participants to get further involved, and to involve others.

More information on the content and results of the conference can be found on www.migrationandintegration.de . The organisers are on  www.icae.org.uy  , www.eaea.org, www.dvv-vhs.de , www.dvv-international.de and www.telc.net .

Invitation
How can we continue the analysis leading into policy making? And how can we do it from a truly global perspective?

We are currently in the process of analysing the documents and findings of the conference further, together with materials that have been published.

Colleagues who are interested to contribute to the Virtual Seminar are invited to get in contact with the ICAE Secretariat. Please send your ideas, suggestions, opinions, research results, materials, and documents.

Later we will decide how to include contributions and findings in the ICAE Document being prepared for the regional pre-conferences in 2008 and the global CONFINTEA VI in Brazil in 2009.