Understanding the educational experiences of Venezuelan migrants through the lens of inclusive education in five public secondary schools in Peru

• In Event: New Dynamics of the Educational Integration of Survival Migrants in Latin America

Proposal

In recent years Peru has become home to more than 1.2 million displaced Venezuelans, making it the second largest host country of Venezuelan migrants in the world. Guaranteeing the right to education of Venezuelan children constitutes a major challenge in a precarious education system characterized by limited resources, deep inequality and poor-quality schools. Recent studies show that even though Peru has made great efforts to expand school services to ensure access to education to Venezuelan migrants, many challenges remain in place to include them fully (Equilibrium CenDE, 2020; UNICEF, 2021).

This qualitative comparative case study, conducted by UNESCO Peru, explores how education actors in five public secondary schools in Lima and Trujillo with a high percentage of Venezuelan migrant students understand inclusive education for migrant students and develop inclusive practices. Through interviews and focus groups with local education leaders, school principals, teachers, migrant and local students, and migrant families as well as classroom and school observation, the concept of inclusive education is used to understand the educational experiences of Venezuelan students. We investigated the following questions: i). How do education actors at the local and school levels perceive migrant students? ii). How do they understand inclusive education for migrant students? iii). What barriers do these actors identify to ensure migrant students are fully included in schools? iv). What inclusive education practices aimed at Venezuelan migrant students are school actors implementing at the school and classroom levels? This study uses sensemaking theory (Spillane, Reiser & Reimer, 2002) and some key elements of Booth and Ainscow’s Index for Inclusion (2011), to explore inclusive policies, cultures and practices for Venezuelan migrant children in terms of access, participation and learning.

Findings show that inclusive education continues to be highly associated with special needs education although some school actors have begun to expand their views to include the needs of their entire diverse student body. Inclusion of migrant children is generally limited to ensuring access to schools, although some schools have started including some specific learning support programs. In fact, Venezuelan students are not considered vulnerable students by most school principals and teachers who tend to prioritize the needs of other vulnerable Peruvian student populations. In a context of limited resources, the presence of Venezuelan migrants in poor areas generates tensions with host communities who perceive competition in the allocation of education resources. In contrast with local families, Venezuelan migrant families are regarded by school actors as highly assertive and demanding of their rights. Despite the tensions created by this constant competition for scarce resources, Venezuelan migrant students are perceived as communicative, extrovert and skillful, many of them occupying high positions in student representative bodies. However, xenophobia and discrimination are also a part of their daily school experiences, primarily but not exclusively through microaggressions and name calling. In many schools, the presence of Venezuelan migrants has also motivated a renowned interest in learning more about the local diverse student body offering an opportunity for intercultural practices.

Authors

• Gisele Cuglievan Mindreau, OISE, University of Toronto

• Alvaro Ordoñez Hidalgo, Unesco