Nursery World - Nursery places shut to refugee children

Children of asylum-seekers and refugees are missing out on nursery places which could provide opportunities to settle in, feel safe and play which are unavailable in their home environments. School places for asylum-seekers in Glasgow, which now has more than 600 such children in its schools, are funded through a contract between Glasgow City Council and the National Asylum Support Service, the arm of the Home Office which deals with asylum-seekers. But the contract covers only school provision and does not supply funding for the under-fives.

School places for asylum-seekers in Glasgow, which now has more than 600 such children in its schools, are funded through a contract between Glasgow City Council and the National Asylum Support Service, the arm of the Home Office which deals with asylum-seekers. But the contract covers only school provision and does not supply funding for the under-fives.

The charity Children in Scotland described the plight of one Iranian refugee and her child in last month's issue of its magazine. The woman in this case study, who asked not to be identified, lived in a tower block in Sighthill in Glasgow, where many of the refugees suffered harassment from their neighbours that made life so threatening they considered it unsafe to allow a child to play outside.

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