Access Denied: Refugee Children and the Exclusionary Logic of the Education System in England

Abstract

This article aims to show that, as refugee children occupy a contested space between asylum and children's rights frameworks, the contradictory interplay between the two serves to disempower and disadvantage. The article argues that these children are thus subject to an exclusionary logic, enforced by ‘gatekeepers' in the form of schools and local authorities, who hold the power to deny access to education. Drawing on empirical research conducted as part of the author's role as a research assistant for the Supporting and Mentoring in Learning and Education (SMILE) project at the British Refugee Council, it argues that mentoring can act as a mechanism to transfer knowledge, with volunteers acting as guides to negotiate power structures and empower refugee children to access the education they are entitled to.