Reception or deception? Formal and non-formal education provision for adult migrants in Greece and Malta

This article critically examines the provision of formal and non-formal adult education for migrants in Greece and Malta – two European Union (EU) frontline states navigating complex intersections of migration, geopolitics, and national policy constraints. In this paper, migrants include those who access the host country regularly or irregularly. They are addressed using a human rights–based lens, and considered in light of their status as displaced learners. Drawing on mobility theories and critical pedagogy, the paper interrogates how educational opportunities for migrants are shaped by EU migration governance, national priorities, legal frameworks, and broader sociopolitical discourses. The analysis reveals that adult education provision for migrants in both countries is often fragmented, instrumentalized, and constrained by economically- and security-driven migration policies that show little evidence of sustainable development, and frame migrants as economic units rather than rights-bearing persons. Through desktop research and critical discourse analysis of legal, policy, and secondary sources, the article identifies structural inequalities and exclusionary practices that limit education to training for employment or a quasi-charitable offering, rather than a transformative right. The article’s discussion challenges deficit-oriented narratives and advocates for a participatory, rights-based model of adult education with migrants. Ultimately, it calls for a shift from assimilationist frameworks to inclusive educational practices that foreground empowerment, social justice, and the co-creation of knowledge in increasingly diverse, migration-influenced societies.