Immigration and supplementary ethnic schooling: Ukrainian students in Portugal

Abstract

Immigration from Eastern European countries to Portugal is a recent phenomenon. Within the last decade, economic migrants from Ukraine, Russia, Romania and Moldova set up a number of supplementary schools across the country. No academic attention has been given to the phenomenon of supplementary ethnic schools in Portugal, whilst there is a growing interest in and beyond Europe in the ways they serve as cultural, social and political sources for identity negotiation, and structures for social capital formation in migrant communities. This study addresses this gap in knowledge. Drawing on a survey completed by 184 students between the ages of 12 and 20, attending eight Ukrainian supplementary schools, this paper contributes to wider international research through its mapping of the population of Ukrainian schools in Portugal and examining students’ reasons for attendance, highlighting both positive and negative aspects of their experiences. Recommendations are made for schools in light of the findings.

Keywords:

• Portugal
• Ukrainian
• supplementary/complementary school
• immigrant students

Acknowledgements

The financial support was provided by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT). We would like to thank all the students and schools who participated in the study. Special thanks also go to Prof. Araújo and FPCEUP for hosting this research.

Notes

1. In this case, 30% of the cells had expected count less than 5. Therefore, we also used Fisher’s exact test, confirming statistical significance (p = 0.01).

2. In this case, 30% of the cells had expected count less than 5. Therefore, we also used Fisher’s exact test, reaching statistical significance (p = 0.026).