Language barriers, differences between education systems and a shortage of qualified teachers to provide multilingual teaching pose challenges for the education of migrant children. Almost all EU Member States have measures in place to support them.
EMN inform, EMN NL two-pager | Access to education
Language barrier the biggest challenge for minor migrants in education
20 November 2025
According to many European countries, the language barrier is the biggest challenge for minor migrants in education (BE, EE, FI, HR, HU, IE, LT, LU, LV, MT, NL, PL, PT, SI, SK; RS). Pupils often struggle to follow lessons, understand learning materials and communicate with teachers and classmates. In addition, the Netherlands, among others, notes the often large differences between the education system in the pupils’ country of origin and the Dutch system. In 10 countries, including the Netherlands, there is also a shortage of teachers trained to teach newcomers (BG, EE, FI, FR, LT, LV, NL, SE, SI, SK).
Transition classes and additional support in the Netherlands
The Netherlands supports minor migrants in learning the language (as do AT, BE, BG, CY, CZ, EE, ES, FI, FR, EL, HR, IE, IT, LT, LU, LV, MT, PL, PT, SE, SI, SK). In the Netherlands, pupils receive Dutch language lessons in transition classes in preparation for mainstream or special education. Minor migrants of primary-school age may start in newcomer or language classes. For pupils in secondary education, there are international transition classes. Children in the Netherlands may also enter mainstream education directly, but this requires additional guidance from teachers. Furthermore, schools in the Netherlands are obliged to assess the potential need for additional educational support for all pupils, including children with a migration background.
The Netherlands also has:
- specialised training for teachers (as do BG, CY, EE, EL, ES, FI, FR, IE, IT, LU, LV, MT, PL, PT, SI, SK; RS);
- specialised educational materials (as do BE, CY, CZ, EE, ES, FI, FR, HR, IE, LT, LU, LV, PT, SI, SK; RS);
- measures to improve teachers’ intercultural and psychosocial competences (as do BE, CZ, EE, ES, FR, HU, LT, LV, PL, SK; RS).
From interpreting services to teacher networks: measures in other EU Member States
In addition to the Netherlands, nine other countries (BE, EE, EL, ES, IT, LT, LU, PL, SE) have similar transition classes for minor migrants. But there are also other types of support:
- In Czechia, interpreting and translation services are available.
- Sweden offers lessons in the pupil’s mother tongue.
- Slovenia will soon launch a programme that promotes inclusion of children by professionally training teachers, improving intercultural competences and creating an inclusive learning environment.
- Cyprus, France and Greece have established networks enabling teachers of minor migrants to exchange experiences.
- Finland, Luxembourg and Spain monitor the performance levels of minor migrants compared to other children in primary and secondary education.
Measures against discrimination in several Member States
Many EU Member States have specific programmes to prevent discrimination and segregation of minor migrants. Nine countries (BE, CY, ES, FI, FR, IE, LT, LV, SE, SK) aim to counter this through legal frameworks. Several other Member States (CZ, HR, LU, LV, MT, PL, PT, SE, SK) mainly focus on improving language proficiency to combat discrimination and promote integration. In the Netherlands, the Alliance for Equal Opportunities aims to promote equal opportunities in education. It does not have a specific focus on minor migrants.
*Participating countries: Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Czechia (CZ), Estonia (EE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), Finland (FI), France (FR), Croatia (HR), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Latvia (LV), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Sweden (SE), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK); Serbia (RS), Ukraine (UA).
