Recommendations for the Refugee Teachers Task Force

At the end of the day, delegates were invited to address a panel of representatives from the Refugee Teachers Task Force – the body that take forward policy issues – with questions and recommendations for how things might be improved.

The panel was made up of:

• Jonathan Ellis – Director of Policy & Development, Refugee Council
• Beryl Randall – Director, Employability Forum
• Andrew Lawton – Project Manager, Refugees into Teaching (Refugee Council)
• Eddie Ralston – Refugee Teachers Network coordinator (Refugee Council)

The main points were centred around NARIC comparisons and the perceived injustice of the assessment system. The following responses were given:

• There is a lack of information about why particular decisions are being made
• Individual institutions need to be engaged with as well, to try and get them to carry out Assessments of Prior Experience and Learning for refugee teachers (instead of simply relying on NARIC)
• UK NARIC are part of the Refugee Teachers Task Force; the panel will present information from this conference to them at the next meeting

An recommendation was put forward that more pressure should be put on Job Centre Plus to be more supportive/understanding of refugee teachers:

• Beryl Randall explained that Employability Forum have a meeting with Job Centre Plus (local and national) to discuss allowing refugee teachers to undertake courses aimed at helping them into teaching without putting their benefits at risk.
• Andrew Lawton explained that the Refugee Integration and Employment Service has close relations with JCP. They have the duty to communicate and recognise the realities of the situation faced by many refugee teachers. He explained that the Refugee Council is willing to get involved and advocate on behalf of individuals.

Finally, the difficulty of finding voluntary (or other) experience in a school was mentioned. One Zimbabwean teacher said that they felt there is a discrimination against refugees trying to find placements in schools.

• Andrew explained that the Refugees into Teaching project will be contacting schools to open up vacancies as part of their new phase of development
• Beryl highlighted the fact that there is a general need for job brokerage for refugee teachers to help assist them in finding work placements