School performance of children of indian and cape verdean immigrants in basic schooling in Portugal

Abstract

The chapter is based on research that compares the school results in basic education in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area of pupils of different national origins-from Portugal, Cape Verde and India-and with different socio-cultural circumstances; it examines how far family dynamics and school processes are related to unequal performance. A questionnaire was distributed to 837 pupils at eight different schools, and ten parents were interviewed. The analysis showed that the performance of pupils of Indian origin is better than both Portuguese and Cape Verdean pupils, even when allowing for the effect of other structural variables. There are also differences between groups of pupils with regard to their family lives (relationship with country of origin and schooling) and their school experience (behaviour and relationship with people and learning).