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1. Main challenges to social inclusion

2. Main concepts

Main challenges to social inclusion

Social inclusion is a topic relevant to education and, in particular, it enhances all the social classes of the youth living in Greece to join the national Greek educational system.  According to research by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, young immigrants are a youth group affected by this factor (Hellenic Statistical Authority, 2015). According to the research findings, immigration background seems to be negatively correlated with the level of education: People with an immigrant background tend to have a lower level of education than those born in Greece. For instance, only 54.7% of people aged 15-24, indicate very good knowledge of the Greek language. Discrimination on the grounds of origin, religion, or social cause is the most frequently cited factor as an obstacle to finding a job that matches the qualifications of the respondents with an immigrant background (37%). Unsatisfactory knowledge of the Greek language (27.2%) emerges as the second limiting factor, followed by restrictions due to citizenship or residence permit (17.8%).

Main concepts

The term social inclusion has been defined in several public documents issued by the Greek government. According to the website of the Hellenic Ministry of Migration and Asylum, social integration is defined as the process of interaction and mutual adaptation between migrants, asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection, and the host society, with the aim of creating societies with strong social cohesion and achieving coexistence under conditions of peace and mutual understanding.

The National Strategy for Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, which was published in 2021 (Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, 2021), defines social inclusion as the framework for the creation of a safety net for the groups of the population most affected by the effects of the economic crisis (individuals and families at risk of poverty and social exclusion), and will be used as a development tool for the rational promotion of large-scale social investment.

Another term that was also adopted by the National Strategy for Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction and was published in the National Strategic Framework for Social Integration (Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, 2014) is the model of social inclusion, which was defined as: ‘A grid of public policies to defend key individual and social rights through organised institutional, operational, and financial tools for preventing and combating poverty, social exclusion, and discrimination.’