OECD: Immigrant pupils do not affect school performance

A report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has claimed that there is no direct link between the proportion of immigrant pupils and the performance of a school system.

The report, entitled ‘Immigrant Students at School: Easing the Journey towards Integration’, maintains that most immigrant pupils have aspirations which match or even surpass their non-immigrant counterparts.

While the report does confirm that in general immigrant pupils perform worse than their non-immigrant peers, it is their socio-economic status that makes the most difference. The think tank reported that schools with larger concentrations of immigrant students are often located in poor neighbourhoods.

It cited the US as an example where 21 per cent of all students have an immigrant background, while those schools in disadvantaged areas have 40 per cent of its student population from immigrant backgrounds.

The report also found that in Belgium, Germany and Hungary, parents of immigrant students are more likely to expect their children to gain a degree than non-immigrant parents in those countries.

Andreas Schleicher, director of education and skills at the OECD wrote in the introduction to the report: “While it is true that migrants often endure economic hardship and precarious living conditions, many immigrants bring to their host countries valuable skills and human capital.

“The policies and practices that countries use to integrate immigrant students into schools have a major influence on whether integration is successful or not; and countries that are unsuccessful in integrating the first generation will pay an even larger price in future generations.

“It is common sense, and borne out in the evidence shown in this report, that schools that struggle to do well for domestic students will struggle even more with a large population of children who cannot speak or understand the language of instruction.

“Countries that distribute immigrant students across a mix of schools and classrooms achieve better outcomes for these students. A more even distribution also relieves the pressure on schools and teachers when large numbers of immigrant students arrive over a short period of time.”

The research follows last years report by the Centre for Market and Public Organisation at Bristol University which suggested that the reason for London’s schools’ success, compared to the rest of the country, was its higher proportion of ethnic minority pupils.