CHAPTER 5: Schooling on the Move: Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children in the Public School System of Bulgaria

The present article proposes a discussion of the educational integration of refugee and asylum seeking children (RASC) in the public school system of Bulgaria. Upon the background of the main trends in asylum migration to the country, the article draws a profile of RASC in the Bulgarian public schools. An analysis is provided of how legislative frameworks and policy practices in the area of education impact the lives and strategies of RASC and their families. Relying on data from in-depth interviews with experts and public school teachers of foreign youth, as well as from focus groups with foreign pupils, the article provides an account of youth migrant experiences in attaining education and of the experiences of educational professionals working with them. Discussed are the range of problems faced by both foreign pupils and school professionals in the spheres of access to schooling, quality of education and integration in the school wide community. The article puts under discussion measures that could reconcile the country’s highly centralized and inflexible educational system with the need of programs to address the specific needs of children with foreign background.