Refugees, education and Christianity in Europa

Abstract

The newspaper on 19 February 2016 featured the World Press Photo of the Year contest winners for 2015. In the top prize-winning image, a man is handing a baby under the barbed wire fence at the border between Serbia and Hungary. The photo expresses not only fear but also hope for the end of suffering behind this fence. That mix of emotions moves the thousands of Syrians and North Africans desiring safety. Europe, at the same time, is possessed by another mix of sentiments: sympathy, awe, and uncertainty about the impact of refugees on society. This was reflected in several other news items: Austria initiates a quota for the access of immigrants, in Clausnitz (Saxony) buses with refugees are received with protests, and in front of a Dutch center for asylum seekers people have dropped dead pigs, to name a few actions. News like this is what students in European schools hear around them. This is the news they share at the dinner table, chat about in the playground and ask questions about in school. The influx of refugees also raises new questions for their teachers. Some are very practical: do we have enough chairs and tables for the new children? How can we teach young children who do not understand our language? How do we find resources? Newspapers report that half of all Dutch schools pay everything for the intake of refugee children from their own budget. Schools seem to be hospitable but struggle with the questions of parents who are scared of the influence of Muslim ideas in their schools. Refugees also challenge the relationship between the school and the state. Can the state force schools to take in refugee children? Has a government the right to dictate how children are taught about matters such as tolerance? From the school side, in what respect should a school nourish debate about issues in society? How neutral can a school be towards public opinion? Governments seem to understand the importance of education for the future of a peaceful society. This becomes all the more clear when we look at concerns that are raised with regard to the threat of radicalization among young Muslims. The Dutch Minister of Education recently