Inequality in learning achievement among migrant students in Latin America: evidence from the Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE) of the Latin-American Laboratory for the Assessment of Quality of Education (LLECE)

Today's mobile students face difficulties in terms of access, permanence, and academic performance due to institutional, linguistic, and cultural factors, and even to situations of discrimination or racism. The results of the Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (TERCE), for example, show that in both third and sixth grades, migrant children achieve lower levels of performance than non-migrant children. The mobility situation alone does not determine lower outcomes. Families in a situation of mobility are affected by structural elements such as exclusion, unequal educational opportunities and discrimination in the classroom, which are the ones that public policy must address in order to ensure the right to quality education. It is essential that educational systems include cultural diversity as a principle from the first years of schooling, eliminating the stigma surrounding heterogeneity. To this end, it is necessary to strengthen teacher education and training, advance in curriculum transformation processes, and gather information that will allow a better understanding of the complexity of contemporary educational contexts. To this end, UNESCO is implementing the Regional Strategy for Responding to the Situation of Persons in a Context of Mobility, whose objective is to support countries in guaranteeing the right to education of persons in a context of mobility. To achieve this, the strategy is commited to prioritizing the addressing of obstacles related to access to educational systems; educational planning systems in contexts of displacement; management of admission systems; educational and social inclusion of persons in a context of mobility; and recognition of studies and competencies that allow them to continue their studies and perform in their occupational areas.