Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This paper examines the socio-economic and socio-demographic profile of foreign-born children in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to understand their influence on current educational and future employment outcomes of national children. The study uses country level population data and aggregate level student performance data from Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) for selected GCC countries. The findings show that foreign-born students outperform national students in reading, science and mathematics scores and in completion of tertiary education. The Gulf countries would benefit by providing opportunities for the two groups to integrate and assimilate through schooling with ability-based placement of both types of students.

Keywords

educational outcomes educational aspirations foreign-born children national children PISA Gulf

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abdulkader

(2023) Qatar family visa (residence): Requirements and guide 2023. Doha Guides, October. Available at: https://www.dohaguides.com/family-visa-in-qatar-requirements-documents/#2-profession-requirement (accessed 14 October 2023).

Avvisati

(2020) The measure of socio-economic status in PISA: A review and some suggested improvements. Large-scale Assessments in Education 8. DOI: 10.1186/s40536-020-00086-x.

Avvisati

Echazarra

Givord

et al. (2019a) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018: Qatar. Country note for PISA. Paris: OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/about/programmes/edu/pisa/publications/national-reports/pisa-2018/featured-country-specific-overviews/PISA2018_CN_QAT.pdf.

Avvisati

Echazarra

Givord

et al. (2019b) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018: United Arab Emirates. Country note for PISA. Paris: OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/about/programmes/edu/pisa/publications/national-reports/pisa-2018/featured-country-specific-overviews/PISA2018_CN_ARE.pdf.

Ballatore

Fort

Ichino

(2018) Tower of Babel in the classroom: Immigrants and natives in Italian schools. Journal of Labor Economics 36(4): 885-921. DOI: 10.1086/697524.

Bossavie

(2018) The effect of immigration on natives' school achievement: Does length of stay in the host country matter?. Working paper for the World Bank Group, Working paper no. 8492, June. Available at: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/702871529934288951/pdf/WPS8492-REVISED.pdf.

Brandén

Birkelund

Szulkin

(2016) Does school segregation lead to poor educational outcomes? Evidence from fifteen cohorts of Swedish ninth graders . Working paper for Linköping University and the Institute for Analytical Sociology. Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1048229/FULLTEXT02.pdf.

BridgeWest (2023) Residence visa for family in Saudi Arabia, February. Available at: https://companyformationsaudiarabia.com/saudi-residence-visa-for-family/ (accessed 14 October 2023).

Brunello

Rocco

(2013) The effect of immigration on the school performance of natives: Cross country evidence using PISA test scores. Economics of Education Review 32: 234-246. DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.10.006.

10.

Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) - State of Kuwait (2022) Annual Bulletin of Education Statistics 2021/2022, Chapter 4: Education Indicators, Tables 92 to 94 and 96 to 99. Dataset, CSB – State of Kuwait. Available at: https://www.csb.gov.kw/Pages/Statistics_en?ID=58&ParentCatID=.

11.

Department of Educational Policy and Research of Qatar (2020) Annual Statistics of Education in The State of Qatar 2020/2019. Report for the Department of Educational Policy and Research, Educational Statistics Section. Doha: Ministry of Education and Higher Education. Available at: https://www.edu.gov.qa/en/?file=f1c46620-631c-4c08-a11d-d98a1912cd98.

12.

Diette

Oyelere

(2017) Gender and racial differences in peer effects of limited English students: A story of language or ethnicity?. IZA Journal of Migration 6: 1-18. DOI: 10.1186/s40176-016-0074-y.

13.

Echazarra

Avvisati

Givord

et al. (2019) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018: Saudi Arabia. Country note for PISA. Paris: OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/about/programmes/edu/pisa/publications/national-reports/pisa-2018/featured-country-specific-overviews/PISA2018_CN_SAU.pdf.

14.

Figlio

Giuliano

Marchingiglio

et al. (2021) Diversity in schools: Immigrants and the educational performance of U.S. born students . Working paper for National Bureau of Economic Research, Working paper no. 28596, March. Available at: https://www.nber.org/papers/w28596.

15.

Geay

McNally

Telhaj

(2013) Non-native speakers of English in the classroom: What are the effects on pupil performance?. Economic Journal 123(570): F281-F307. DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12054.

16.

Gulf Labour Markets, Migration, and Population (GLMM) Programme (2020) Percentage of Nationals and Non-Nationals in Gulf populations (2020) . Graph. Available at: https://gulfmigration.grc.net/media/graphs/Figure1percentageofnationals%20non-nationals2020v2.pdf.

17.

Gulf Labour Markets, Migration, and Population (GLMM) Programme (2021a) GCC: National populations by sex and five-year age group (mid-2021), December. Available at: https://gulfmigration.grc.net/national-populations-by-sex-and-five-year-age-group-mid-2021/.

18.

Gulf Labour Markets, Migration, and Population (GLMM) Programme (2021b) GCC: Foreign populations by sex and five-year age group (mid-2021), December. Available at: https://gulfmigration.grc.net/foreign-populations-by-sex-and-five-year-age-group-mid-2021/.

19.

Gulf Labour Markets, Migration, and Population (GLMM) Programme (2022) Percentage of Nationals and Non-Nationals in GCC countries’ employed populations (2020) . Graph. Available at: https://gulfmigration.grc.net/media/graphs/Graph%20Employment%202020%20by%20country%20-%202022-07-05.pdf.

20.

Hermansen

Birkelund

(2015) The impact of immigrant classmates on educational outcomes. Social Forces 94(2): 615-646. DOI: 10.1093/sf/sov073.

21.

Hoxby

Weingarth

(2005) Taking Race Out of the Equation: School Reassignment and the Structure of Peer Effects . Paper. Available at: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=386de4e83235738ec333387e23abf71a4c1f1e4d.

22.

Jacobs

Devleeshouwer

(2016) Migrant children and educational challenges. In: Triandafyllidou

(ed) Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies (1^st edn). London: Routledge, pp. 198-206.

23.

Jensen

Rasmussen

(2011) The effect of immigrant concentration in schools on native and immigrant children’s reading and math skills. Economics of Education Review 30(6): 1503-1515. DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.08.002.

24.

Kippels

Ridge

(2019) International and Other Migrant Schools in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Background paper for the Arab States 2019 Global Education Monitoring Report. UNESCO. Available at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000371536.

25.

Knight Frank (2021) Saudi Arabia Education Report 2021. Report. Riyadh: Knight Frank Middle East Limited (Saudi Arabia Branch). Available at: https://argaamplus.s3.amazonaws.com/63ef7efd-d6e9-451c-956d-a4c5408ad119.pdf.

26.

Lazear

(2001) Educational production. Quarterly Journal of Economics 116(3): 777-803. DOI: 10.1162/00335530152466232.

27.

National Centre for Statistics and Information (2024) Pre-school and School Education . Dataset, National Centre for Statistics and Information. Available at: https://data.gov.om/wmvjdrc/pre-school-and-school-education?accesskey=jvyxawc (accessed 18 March 2025).

28.

Neymotin

(2009) Immigration and its effect on the college-going outcomes of natives. Economics of Education Review 28(5): 538-550. DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2008.12.001.

29.

Ohinata

van Ours

(2013) How immigrant children affect the academic achievement of native Dutch children. Economic Journal 123(570): F308-F331. DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12052.

30.

Ohinata

van Ours

(2016) Quantile peer effects of immigrant children at primary schools. Labour 30(2): 135-157. DOI: 10.1111/labr.12076.

31.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2013) PISA 2012 Results: Excellence through Equity (Volume II): Giving Every Student the Chance to Succeed. Report for PISA. Paris: OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.1787/9789264201132-en.

32.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2016) PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education. Report for PISA. Paris: OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.1787/9789264266490-en.

33.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2019) PISA 2018 Results (Volume II): Where All Students Can Succeed. Report for PISA. Paris: OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.1787/b5fd1b8f-en.

34.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2020) PISA 2018 Results (Volume V): Effective Policies, Successful Schools. Report for PISA. Paris: OECD Publishing. DOI: 10.1787/ca768d40-en.

35.

Sacerdote

(2011) Peer effects in education: How might they work, how big are they and how much do we know thus far? In: Hanushek

Machin

Woessmann

(eds) Handbook of the Economics of Education Volume 3. San Diego: North-Holland, pp. 249‐277.

36.

Schneeweis

(2015) Immigrant concentration in schools: Consequences for native and migrant students. Labour Economics 35: 63-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2015.03.004.

37.

The United Arab Emirates’ Government portal (2022) Residence visa for family members, November. Available at: https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/visa-and-emirates-id/residence-visas/residence-visa-for-family-members#:∼:text=parentandchild-,Sponsorshiprequirements,orAED3%2C000plusaccommodation (accessed 14 October 2023).

38.

Tonello

(2016) Peer effects of non-native students on natives educational outcomes: Mechanisms and evidence. Empirical Economics 51: 383-414. DOI: 10.1007/s00181-015-0995-y.

Migrant worker policies and the spillover effects on educational outcomes and employment aspirations of national children in the Gulf

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References