children to ensure that they have this access
in practice 25 . Particular challenges affecting
some migrant and refugee children include:
limited or no command of the local language,
prolonged periods out of school, insufficient
family and community support, access to
fewer socio-economic resources and a lack
of documents to prove identity. Additional
targeted support– including language support
– will help ensure that children can join
formal education successfully and develop
their potential in their new schools. While
these measures produce positive results
and should be supported, non-formal and
informal education cannot and should not
be considered as replacing access to formal
education 26 . Parents and children might
also need support in meeting prerequisites
to enroll children in school. For example, in
Serbia, children need to undertake a medical
check in order to enroll in school, which
might be challenging for parents who cannot
speak the local language and do not know the
procedures.
• By developing civil society programmes
in coor