Education and Internal Migration – Select Findings from the Global Research Base, Data and Policy implications

• In Event: Roundtable Session (Thurseday I)
  In Refereed Round-Table Session: Education implications of internal migration: a global perspective and lessons from the Chinese case

Proposal

This presentation focuses on a chapter of the 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report which analyzes the key linkages between internal migration and education, based on recent data and research available from around the world. The analysis and write-up is based on internal literature review and data analysis, background papers written by external experts, and an extensive consultation process.
The report presents census-based data analysis on internal migration and education globally, including education as a motivation for internal migration; and country analyses on how education characteristics, attainment and quality vary between migrants and non-migrants. It reflects on the education situation and needs of specific groups affected by internal migration, such as economically marginalized migrant workers, and mobile populations such as nomads and pastoralists. It considers the education planning challenges that result from such population movements, such as declining rural populations and burgeoning slum populations. It discusses issues with access to education at different levels, the quality and relevance of education provided, and highlights policy efforts and implications.
We find that education plays a key role in the decision to migrate, especially for tertiary education. While some studies, for instance in Indonesia, have documented positive effects of rural-urban migration on education attainment, the evidence base suggests that the lack of adequate educational provision at their destination often limits the fulfilment of educational opportunity. In Brazil, girls who migrated out of Ceara and Minas Gerais were more likely to be delayed in education completion compared to girls who did not migrate.
The core reasons for a lack of adequate educational opportunity or poor outcomes include (i) legal constraints to internal migration and education access (e.g. in China and Viet Nam), (ii) poverty and child labour among seasonal migrants (e.g. in India and Peru), (iii) lack of adequate supports for those left behind (e.g. in China or Cambodia); (iv) lack of relevant education for traditionally mobile populations (e.g. in the Horn of Africa and Mongolia); and (v) lack of planning and jurisdiction for growing or reducing populations (e.g. in slum populations in Asia and Africa). In most instances, adequate instruction in the relevant languages and quality teachers are lacking for these most vulnerable, hardest to reach populations.
The state of the evidence suggests that internal migrants and their challenges receive less global attention compared to internal migration and refugee crises since many of these issues are viewed to be domestic problems. The report recommends several points of improved emphasis by both governments and the international community in order to improve the education situation of internal migrants, who form a significant proportion of the hard to reach, out of school children. Globally, a focus on the issue of undercounting of nomads and pastoralists, slum populations and seasonal migrants is essential to ensure an adequate emphasis on education needs. Learning from the lessons of the Chinese experience, other countries should focus on reducing legal barriers within countries and assess the efficacy of policies such as expanding boarding schools, and recognizing the shortage of qualified teachers and discriminatory behavior.

Author

• Priyadarshani Joshi, UNESCO