Validation for Integration in a Swedish Context

The current migration and refugee situation have brought the need for validation and recognition of prior learning to the forefront. Ever since the development of the Bologna Process (BP) and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and both at national and European policy level, validation and recognition of prior learning have been envisaged as the most obvious way to ensure that the skills, qualifications and competence that refugees and migrants bring can be applied in their host country. Politically, there is agreement that it is essential for displaced persons to get access to education and/or employment and that they should not be limited by their qualifications and competencies being undervalued, even if there is a lack of formal documents or local language competences. Recognition of their prior qualifications, both formal and non-formal and informal experiences through work and other activities, should – in principle –ensure that they can be used in their host country either through straightforward recognition by national authorities or by higher education institutions (HEIs) providing targeted or bridging courses in the host language. The article presents how one of the countries which received the largest number of refugees per capita in 2015, Sweden, is developing validation and supportive courses and if validation equals integration? It builds on two projects carried out at Lund and Umeå universities on the development of recognition (of prior learning) including integration of refugees and migrants.