Difficulties and Challenges in the Integration of Venezuelan Students in Colombia from their Teachers’ Voice

Abstract

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has caused the migration of millions of people towards several countries, a situation that has impacted Colombia in a special way since this is the bordering country with the greatest mobility. Among the immigrant population there is a wide portion of boys, girls, and adolescents representing a challenge to the government, to the educational establishments, and to the coexistence between Colombian and Venezuelan students in schools. This paper is focused on the identification, as perceived by teachers, of the educational conditions that allow or hinder the Venezuelan students to integrate into the Colombian educational system. The methodology was based on conducting mixed focus groups including teachers from educational institutions in Cúcuta and Bogotá, two Colombian cities involving a high concentration of migrant population. Among the most important conclusions achieved there is the identification of a series of factors that, on one hand, facilitate a proper acceptance at educational institutions but, on the other hand, there are difficulties related to the lack of tools that permit to face circumstances potentially generating conflictive situations. Some of such circumstances are xenophobe, strain situations between students, the need of establishing social links beyond the classroom, the lack of teaching tools and curricular innovations, the scarcity of institutional policies, and the existence of situations of vulnerability or risks affecting Venezuelan students.