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Abstract
This article examines problems and difficulties encountered by Nicaraguan migrant students in the Costa Rican educational system and contrasts their psychosocial and sociocultural well-being with their Costa Rican counterparts. The findings reveal not only the differences in educational outcomes between these cohorts, but also exposes the prevalence of psychosocial risk behaviours related to violence, bullying, death wishes and self-injury endured by Nicaraguan students. Importantly, there appears to be a large gap between the stated objectives and policies of the Costa Rican educational system to recognise and foster intercultural understanding and tolerance, and the actual educational results of Nicaraguan students. The conclusions drawn from these case studies single out the importance of closing the gap between the well-intended national educational policies and actual educational practices at the local level in order to promote equitable and social justice learning in Costa Rica and better the chances for integration of its Nicaraguan minority.
Notes
* The Nicaraguan students in this sample represent what Ruben Rumbaut refers to as the 1.5 generation since they were born in Nicaragua, but are being schooled in Costa Rica. The conceptualisation of migrants from ‘one point five generation’ includes young migrants born in another country and brought into the host country when they were very young (Moreno Ródenas 2002).
1. While immigrant would normally be used, in order to align the term for European use, the term migrant is interchangeably used with immigrant.
2. Constitución Política de la República de Costa Rica (1949). Reforma Constitucional. 9305 de 24 de agosto de 2015. Political Constitution of the Republic of Costa Rica (1949) Constitutional Reform 9305, 24 August 2015 Accessed: http://www.cesdepu.com/nbdp/copol.htm
3. Ley No. 7739, de 6 de febrero, de Código de la Niñez y la Adolescencia de Costa Rica (La Gaceta No. 26 de 6 de febrero de 1998). Law No. 7739, of the 6th of February, the Costa Rican Code for Children and Adolescents (The Gazette No. 26, 6 February 1998).
4. This research was approved by the ethics committees of the institutions who collaborated in this study and by an interagency agreement. All children over 12 years of age read and signed the Consent Form to participate. Children under 12 years of age received permission from their parents to participate and at the same time completed Consent Forms conforming to minors.
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16. The testimonials are written as expressed by the youth, and in some cases are grammatically and orthographically incorrect, but are shown in the original.
17. Sustainable development with social, educational, economic and financial inclusion (CELAC Citation2015) has been discussed at the ‘III Cumbre de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños’ in Costa Rica in January, 2015; and at the ‘VII Cumbre de las Américas’ on April 10 and 11, 2015, in Panama. The slogan of ‘progress with equity’ became the challenge for cooperation in the Americas. In both meetings, American presidents expressed deep concern about the high rates of violence, crime, unemployment, poverty, and natural disasters due to climate change and uncontrolled migration to Mexico from Central and South America.