Social studies are social studies.
For the 13 -year -old at Edmonton, this means lessons on historical societies, colonialism, the way in which world visions are developed, etc.
The own vision of the world of the eighth year is still under construction, but it has pillars in place: family, fighting for what you believe, not being too confident and, critically, education is a right.
This is why, when Zapata returns from school every day, she transmits what she learned to her three younger brothers and sisters.
“In this way, when they return to school, they will not feel behind it,” she said in a recent interview.
The bells of the school have not applied to his brother and sisters for two years. They were expelled from the school when the officials realized that they were undocumented.
Zapata is also undocumented, but said that his school had not yet understood it.
Alberta is not unique to refuse children without status of legal residence to frequent the public school. Ontario is the only Canadian province or territory which legally requires schools to enroll undocumented children.
Zapata and his family, as well as a coalition of non -profit advocacy groups, want Alberta to follow the traces of Ontario.
Samantha Vaux, a social worker with a group based in Edmonton who works with undocumented families, said only doing this, Alberta does not make the commitments made by signing the United Nations Convention of the Child in 1999.
Get national news
For news that has an impact on Canada and worldwide, register for the safeguarding of news alerts that are delivered to you directly when they occur.
Originally ratified in 1990, the Convention declares that the signatories “must” “make primary training compulsory and available free of charge to everyone”.
“It is not a privilege, it is a right,” said Vaux, with the Islamic Family and Social Services Association. “The more these children are kept away from school, the more it is not harmful to them, (but) for their family, the community, even our society.”
There is no reliable estimate for how many undocumented people live in Canada. Last year, an information note prepared for the former federal immigration minister Marc Miller said that there could be up to 500,000.
Zapata’s family came to Mexico Canada a few years ago and asked for refugee status.
The four children of Zapata frequented school for two years while the family’s request was being processed. But when it was refused, their right was also to frequent schools funded by the State.
The family decided that he was not sure to return to Mexico and stayed in Canada without documentation.
Zapata said that she felt the need to look at her return to school, given the precariousness of her situation.
Dayana Rodriguez also knows this feeling.
Rodriguez, 18, and his family came to Edmonton of Mexico in 2019 and asked for refugee status. Like the Zapatas, Rodriguez and his family were refused, but decided to stay.
She frequented school until 2022, but stopped after losing her status of residence.
“We didn’t even get out of the house,” she said about her time outside the school. “You are in your house, four walls. We couldn’t even comfortably go to the park.
“It was like being in prison.”
When the Rodriguez family again applied, she returned to school, although she recently abandoned to start working and supporting the family, including her two younger brothers and sisters.
Rodriguez’s sister, five years old, was born in Canada, she could therefore not face registration problems when the next school year arrives – but her teenage brother could.
“They also asked for his papers,” said Rodriguez. “We had to speak to school and they somehow left it (stay) a little, but we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Vaux, who works with an undocumented family in Pakistan with four school -aged children – who cannot register – said that education is only an aspect of life that is prohibited for undocumented people in Canada.
Public health care is not an option, and jobs are not protected by labor laws.
In May, after Vaux and other plea groups spoke during meetings of meetings, the administrators of the Edmonton public school voted to ask the province to modify the laws to allow undocumented children to go to school.
The Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides, did not answer questions directly to the question of whether he had planned to make legislative changes, affirming only that Alberta strives to “find a balance between responsibility for taxpayers and compassion for those who arrive in the province”.
Since the vote of the school board, his office has denied several requests for an interview over a period of two weeks.
Nor did he answer questions about the question of whether Nicolaides agreed that Alberta was not up to his commitment to compulsory education.
“It is important to note that most foreign children are eligible for an education funded in the province,” Nicolaides said in a statement.
Vaux said that the lack of a clear response was “unacceptable”.
“It is literally administrative formalities,” she said. “Why is children’s education stopped because of this?”
She said that the children had not made the decision to live without documentation, but are punished as if they were doing.
“Children should not have to suffer or face these adult problems,” said Vaux.
“They did not ask to be put in these situations.”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press