Among the major obstacles in immigrant integration there is children’s access to education and the educational system. Out of the 31 assessed countries by Migrant Integration Policy Index III (MIPEX III), Romania is the 26th regarding immigrant access to education.

The score obtained by our country is 20, that is unfavorable (1-20), a score which places us on the 26th position out of 31. Hungary takes the last place with a 12 score, and next to last is Bulgaria with 15. The most unfavorable in education is defined by MIPEX when the school system is not an engine for the integration of immigrant students. On the opposite side, that is the states with the most favorable position regarding education, we have Sweden with 77 points, Canada on the second place with 71 points and Belgium with 66 points, all three countries being in the 60-79 category – somewhat favorable.

It is worth mentioning that none of the 31 countries reached the 81-100 score, which means favorable. The EU average is 39 points, which means somewhat unfavorable (21-40). „Few educational systems in Europe adapt to the realities of immigration. The most dedicated in this sense are North America, Nordic countries and Benelux. Great Britain is on top of the main immigration countries; Portugal has the best performance out of the new immigration countries together with the Czech Republic in Central Europe and Estonia in the Baltic region”, shows MIPEX III.

Countries such as France, Ireland or Latvia are at a critical level, below the EU average. At an international level, in 2009 there were 3500 work permits issued.

As far as Romania is concerned, when it comes to the access of migrant students to education, though there are good policies which focus on their needs, these are undermined by the difficult access to the educational system. Romania’s scores highlight the fact that education got only 20% in comparison with family reunion (65%) or labor market mobility (68%).

Source: Migrant Integration Policy Index III - www.mipex.eu