‘I feel like not a normal person’ Edmonton undocumented students plead with province for education

Two undocumented students in Edmonton say their education is being taken away because of something that is not their fault.

Ayoube, 11, came to Canada with his parents from Tunisia in 2023. At first, he went to school in Edmonton like everyone else. He made friends, loved to learn, especially in math and science. He says it comes easily to him.

But the doors to a publicly funded education are closed to him now, his parents no longer have the status to stay in Canada.

“My friends make me really happy. We learn together, and they help me in math and other subjects and everything,” said Ayoube.

Ayoube is still learning at home and through a private institution, but misses being with his friends and learning in a classroom.

But some undocumented students are still going to school.

Araena Capata, 13, is from Mexico and came to Edmonton about seven years ago as a refugee with her family. But around 2022, that status expired.

Her siblings were kicked out of school while she was still in class.

“My siblings don’t make any friends, and they don’t really know how to socialize because they haven’t been in school for two years,” Capata explained.

The issue of undocumented children in schools is now getting the attention of Edmonton Public Schools.

Edmonton Public School Board trustees have voted to push Alberta’s government to make legislative changes to allow undocumented kids to enrol in school.

The minister of education agrees that all kids have a right to an education, but there’s a difference in the right for that education to be delivered free of charge.

Demetrios Nicolaides told CityNews in a statement that, “Alberta’s criteria for funding education for newcomers is intended to be open and generous, and most children are eligible for a funded education in the province. This includes children of temporary residents as well as families with refugee status, including those claiming refugee status after they have arrived.”

Adding, “Alberta’s government supports temporary foreign workers in bringing their families to the province by providing access to funded education to their children.”

“They’re our neighbours, they’re part of our community. They shouldn’t be excluded, and this will have a huge effect on their lives,” said Whitney Haynes, Alberta Workers Association for Research and Education.

Capata says, “Their parents had to make the hard decision to go to Canada and search for a better future, and kids had no choice in that.”

Ayoube adds, “I feel like not a normal person. You don’t go there and you don’t learn anything.”

-With files from the Canadian Press