Abstract
This article examines the psychology of migrant learners’ resilience, their right to education, and how migrant organizations and South African civil society are supporting and reinforcing the agency of migrant learners and their parents. It is based on a year-long
study conducted by researchers at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Education Rights and Transformation (CERT), funded by the Foundation for Human Rights. Testimonies, participatory workshops, surveys, interviews, and focus groups with learners, parents, educators, officials, and civil society activists in three South African provinces were studied––Gauteng, Limpopo, and the Western Cape––spanning rural, urban, and township areas. The article is framed by the traumatic experiences of
migrant learners before entering South Africa, during their stay, and often when they are
deported. Topics covered in the testimonies include children’s rights to, and in education,
they also traverse gender issues, the travails of unaccompanied minors, and obstacles
preventing migrants’ participation in schooling and society.