Adult migrant education as a mediator of democratic citizenship in postcolonial contexts : inferences from adult migrant language programmes in Malta and Cyprus

Abstract

In recent years, the EU island states Cyprus and Malta witnessed an exponential increase in foreign nationals (Eurostat, 2018, 2019a; Statistical Service of Cyprus, 2019). At the time of the study, the main irregular migratory routes into the EU, primarily affecting Malta and Cyprus, included the Central Mediterranean and the Eastern Mediterranean route respectively (Frontex, 2019a, 2019b). At the time of the study discussed in this chapter, policy addressing migrant integration through adult education significantly differed between the two post-colonial EU island states. Cyprus was broadly monocultural, fragmented, and lacking specific and comprehensive educational provisions supporting inclusion, as adult migrants were left to their own devices (Gravani et al., 2019). In contrast, Malta’s National Lifelong Learning Strategy 2020 (Ministry of Education and Employment (MEDE), 2014) explicitly targeted increased participation of migrants and provision of specialized programs. The implementation of Integration = Belonging: Migrant Integration Strategy & Action Plan (Vision 2020) (Human Rights and Integration Directorate (HRID), 2017) underscored diversity of the adult-immigrant student population. [excerpt]