The headline on last week’s story ‘NUI Galway study shows non-migrant children have less chance of college’ contained a typographical error and should have read ‘migrant children.’
The story confirms that migrant children are less likely to attend university because of an emerging achievement gap that is related to disparities in the likelihood of young migrants sitting higher level examinations, and enrolment policies that constrain their choices of school.
The authors of the research would also like to point out contrary to the reporting in the story that children of non-migrant parents have a significant advantage over children of migrant parents when it comes to educational achievement and ambition, their study did not suggest that differences in migrant and non-migrant achievement are related to disparities in ambition. The study showed that there is no statistical difference between young migrants and their non-migrant peers with regard to ambition and future university aspirations. Rather, the issue is that despite similar ambitions, migrant students are less likely to attend university because of an education system that thwarts their educational aspirations. The Advertiser is happy to acknowledge and clarify both points.
