Abstract
The purpose of this study is to unravel the education–migration nexus in the African context, specifically Ethiopia. It examines why young people terminate their education to migrate out of the country. The study applies de Haas’ aspiration—capability framework and Turner’s macro, meso and micro sociology as its analytical lenses. It offers unique insight into the terrain of youth migration in southern Ethiopia based on empirical data obtained from two rural sub-districts known for high levels of youth out-migration. Data are generated based on interviews with would-be migrant youth, parents, teachers and school principals. The findings reveal that education has both direct and indirect impacts on youth migration. On the other hand, the results indicate that though terminating school could have negative ramifications on human capital accumulation at micro and macro levels, migration can positively impact households and local communities through investments made by individual migrants, migrant-returnees, and remittance-receiving households in small businesses or community development projects, which included better resourced schools.
Highlights
Migration is contentious, and the responses to the movement of people vary widely, as is the information shared about it
This paper critically evaluates the link between education and migration
The research questions we set out to answer were: (1) What is the role of education in influencing decision-making for youth to consider migrating out of the country? (2) Does education contribute to increasing aspirations and capability in migration decision-making?
Summary
The responses to the movement of people vary widely, as is the information shared about it. The displacement of people is at a record high, nearly. 70 million people [1], and international migration is increasing, an estimated total of 244 million people globally [2]. The vast majority of people around the world remain in their countries of birth, with the International Organization for Migration [2] finding that only 3.3% of the world’s population are international migrants. The response to migration has varied greatly. Some governments are enabling new migration options while others are seeking to stop potential migrants at their places of origin, along their routes of travel and at points of entry.
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