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The impact of global migration on the education of young children

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No. 43, April-September
Author: 
Adams, Leah D.
Format: 
Article
Publication Date: 
1 Apr 2008

Description:

The precise number of young children who migrate worldwide is unknown. The varied means by which migration takes place makes accurate record keeping impossible and most available statistics group together all children aged 0-17. Children of immigrants represent 20% of all children under 18 in the United States. Foreign-born children make up 10% of school enrolment in Greece and the number of migrant children of preschool age in Beijing may be over 300,000. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that children under age 5 make up approximately 11% and children aged 6-17 make up about 32% of those in forced migration and asylum seekers, whether they are with their families or unaccompanied.

This brief focuses on issues related to the effects of global migration on the education of the young migrants, apart from the circumstances of their migration, and proposes specific policy development and implementation.

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