Parental migration: help or hindrance to the schooling of Senegalese youth?

Aljoscha Landös, Université de Genève
Nathalie Mondain, Université d'Ottawa
Claudine E. M. Sauvain-Dugerdil, Université de Genève

This paper examines the impact of parental migration on their children’s schooling in the small town of Kébémer, Senegal, which is characterized by a high rate of international migration. We applied a mixed method approach by analysing the data of the biographic retrospective survey (2012) and by conducting additional qualitative interviews on the impact of migration on children’s education. The quantitative analysis shows a positive impact of father migration on children’s schooling, whereas interviews with spouses of migrants and young people highlight a more complex picture. An important finding from the interviews is the gap between the wishes and personal experiences of migrant parents and young people’s desires to migrate and its negative consequences on their school performance. In families where the mother migrates, children appear to follow circular migration patterns that are driven by aspirations to meet their educational, economic and emotional needs.