The project aimed to provide non-formal education (through workshops) to migrant/refugee parents, empowering them by improving their language, digital skills, and knowledge of the school system. This helped them support their children’s education, collaborate with schools, and integrate into the community. The project also aimed to enhance school staff’s understanding of these parents’ challenges and improve their cultural competencies.
Because the increase in immigrant and refugee families in Europe makes creating inclusive schools essential. In 2020, 8.3% of the European population were immigrants or refugees, and this number did rise when writing this application with the influx of Ukrainian refugees. Although schools try their best to embrace this diversity, immigrant/refugee parents often seem to struggle to support their children’s education, contributing to a performance gap and high dropout rates. Therefore parental involvement was and is still crucial for students’ academic success and the wellbeing of the parents and relationship with the school. As schools are key places for the social integration of parents, this project focused on informal learning for parents at schools, with the aim of improving their integration and their ability to support their children’s education. The primary target group was immigrant parents, but education professionals also played a vital role. Children also benefitted indirectly from their parents’ improved knowledge and skills.