Education pathways – Resettlement Plus

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↝ Education pathways

Complementary Education Pathways, also known as Third Country Education Pathways, are safe and regulated avenues for refugee students to enter a third country to enroll in tertiary education at a higher education institution.

These can provide refugees with either permanent or temporary stay, depending on the country’s model where they were accepted to access higher education. Models include:

adapting an existing student visa framework so refugees can access it
establishing a refugee-specific student visa, such as the university corridors
refugee sponsorship models implemented by universities, institutions, and communities that offer permanent residency upon arrival and access to higher education

The Global Task Force on Third Country Education Pathways (GTF) was launched in 2020 with the main objectives of promoting and supporting the expansion of tertiary education as a complementary pathway for refugee students.

The GTF convenes members globally from all the relevant sectors; representatives of states, regional and international bodies, the private sector, NGOs, refugee representatives, UN agencies, and donors who are engaged in or supporting complementary education pathways and are committed to expanding tertiary education opportunities as a durable solution for refugee students.

It achieves its goals by (1) conducting joint advocacy with relevant stakeholders and within the networks of its members, including the promotion of the Minimum Standards on Complementary Education Pathways, developed by the GTF, (2) providing technical assistance to existing and emerging education pathways programs, (3) conducting research and analysis on education pathways and (4) serving as a central hub for convening relevant stakeholders on complementary education pathways.

Spotlight

Case Studies of Refugee Voices: Firsthand Experiences of Complementary Pathways

To continue building the capacity of relevant stakeholders to design and implement complementary education pathways for refugee students, the GTF is working on workshops that will address key program design elements and challenges requested and identified by the Global Community of Practice.

This is the first workshop designed to support the capacity of stakeholders to develop and implement complementary education pathways for refugee students. It grounded the series in lived experience to enable future program design to be shaped by people who have experience accessing those pathways.

Technical Advice

The Task Force recently launched a “Technical Advice System” to support stakeholders interested in designing and implementing Education Pathways and has updated a section in the TaskForce webpage. A flyer was developed with crucial information on requesting technical advice. Access the GTF Technical Advice Flyer.

Good Practices

Review the Good Practices gathered by the Global Task Force from individuals, governments, and organizations worldwide implementing Complementary Education Pathways to support the access and expansion of tertiary education for refugees in third and host countries. You can access the good practices here.