Immigration, society and education in the EU: Towards an educational policy promoting full social inclusion

Immigration from third countries into the European Union is a structural fact which is common to all its members. In spite of the differences among EU states, there is a set of factors common to them all, such as the difficult social inclusion of citizens of migrant origins or belonging to minoritized groups, and the increasing social racism of the social majority towards this population. To these facts we must add, regarding the field of education, the significant difference in school achievement between students with migrant origins and their autochthonous peers. The solution to this calls for, among other measures, to create a common European framework with new legal instruments that inspire coherent state policies. In education, efforts must be invested in implementing language learning programmes, additional support aids during schooling, and setting up schools and procedures that avoid ghettos as well as segregation.