Internal Migration and Educational Access: Implications for Children in India and Developing Countries

Abstract

Internal migration is one of the most significant yet still insufficiently recognised forces shaping children’s educational access in India and many other developing countries. Migration can increase household income, connect families to expanding labour markets and, in some circumstances, support long-term social mobility. At the same time, it can interrupt schooling through unstable residence, documentation barriers, linguistic transition, weak care arrangements, poverty, discrimination and the misalignment between mobile livelihoods and sedentary school systems. This critical narrative review examines evidence on internal migration and educational access, with a primary focus on India and comparative evidence from China, Turkey and wider developing-country contexts. The review argues that migrant children’s educational exclusion cannot be understood merely as a consequence of household movement or parental neglect. It emerges from the interaction between precarious labour regimes, place-based educational administration, unequal social identities and school systems designed around fixed residence, regular attendance, age-grade progression and local language continuity. Indian evidence shows that seasonal and short-term migration can reduce enrolment stability, attendance, learning continuity and progression, particularly among children from poor rural, lower-caste, tribal and informal-worker households. Comparative evidence from China demonstrates how residence registration, school financing and differentiated access to public schools shape migrant and left-behind children’s educational trajectories. Evidence from Turkey and cross-national studies further shows that destination schools often absorb mobility without commensurate resources, thereby reproducing educational inequality. The article concludes that policies focused only on enrolment are inadequate. Equitable educational access for migrant children requires portable entitlements, inter-jurisdictional tracking, flexible but non-inferior schooling arrangements, financing mechanisms for receiving schools, language and psychosocial support, and data systems capable of capturing circular and seasonal mobility.