Young Venezuelan refugees get a fresh start in Trinidad schools – Global Issues

When 11-year-old Venezuelan refugee Astrid Saavedra walked into her fourth-grade classroom in Trinidad and Tobago for her first day of school in September, she was eager to begin her favorite subject, math. But the prospect of teaching other students about his home country of Venezuela was equally exciting.

Astrid is one of the first refugee and migrant children from Venezuela to be allowed into the Trinidadian national education system, following changes to the country’s immigration laws.

He was part of the first group of 60 children to meet the admission criteria, which included having a certified, translated birth certificate and vaccination record, and was assigned to the school, marking an important milestone in fulfilling Trinidad and Tobago’s commitment to fully meet their needs. obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN’s international human rights treaty.

“These young people, if they live in Trinidad and Tobago, will be ready enough to enter the workforce of this country, fill gaps in the labor market and contribute to innovation and sustainability,” said the chief executive of the UN migration agency (IOM), Desery. Jordan-Whiskey. “It is also an opportunity for these children, who speak Spanish, to contribute in the way they can benefit, by helping their peers learn a second language.”

Investing in the future

Changes in the law that allowed children like Astrid to go to school took place in July 2023, during a meeting of UN officials and politicians, when the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad officially announced the Government’s decision.

UN agencies agree that the right to education is an example of how human rights are linked to sustainable development.

“Advocating for access to education is key to closing the gap between immediate humanitarian needs and long-term development goals,” said Amanda Solano, head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Trinidad and Tobago. “By providing education to refugee students and migrant children, we are not only meeting their immediate needs, but investing in their future and the future of Trinidad and Tobago.”

There are more than 2,000 refugee and immigrant children who are not included in the school system. The UN has made efforts to give them other opportunities to study, or to put them in private schools but has expressed a preference for wider acceptance in the public school system.

A committee of UN agencies and our partner, the Education Working Group (EWG), are working with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to better understand the training and logistical support that would be needed to accommodate large numbers of refugee and migrant children in local schools.

The hope is that more students like Astrid will be able to enter the nation’s classrooms to begin the 2025-2026 academic year.