Language policies aiming at the integration of non-Spanish-speaking migrants into formal education in Uruguay

Abstract

Since 2010, Uruguay has been characterised as a migrants' host country, among which the non-Spanish-speaking population is increasing. Some answers have emerged from the educational sector to address this reality: among others, Spanish as a Second and Foreign Language (SSFL) courses at Udelar (Universidad de la República) since 2012 and ANEP (Administración Nacional de Educación Pública) since 2019. Although these courses continue to the present, they may lack continuity. This article intends to analyze the legal framework of SSFL teaching to migrants and refugees (and the uniqueness of the linguistic policies regarding the Spanish language in the country) and its relationship with recent migration and refugee laws applied from a human rights perspective. Furthermore, we will approach the regulation applied to the education system through five-year official documents to monitor the tools used to ensure that migrants and refugees exercise their rights as stipulated in the aforementioned regulation. Finally, we consider that an integration model can be identified in the SSFL courses and the current regulation related to migration, refugees, and education, which can be conceived as a state-centered model. This aspect reflects an ambivalent reality: a view of the integration model with characteristics that require a State that is always ready to offer the necessary services, as well as guarantee access to the target population.