Immigration Status and School Performance at the Primary and Secondary Levels of Cameroonian Pupils Aged 6 to 20: a Decomposition Analysis

Due to its potential contribution to educational achievement, immigration has garnered increased attention in literature. However, the existing research has predominantly examined the relationship between immigration and academic achievement through remittance or has failed to sufficiently control for the numerous factors that explain and mitigate the impacts of a student’s immigration status. This paper aims to explore one socio-demographic dimension of immigration, i.e., how immigration status helps explain the school performance gap. We compared native and immigrant students in Cameroon, ages 6–20 years old on outcomes of reading, writing, and level of educational attainment, controlling for relevant socio demographic factors. The results show that native students are more likely to be able to read and write a simple sentence in the official language than immigrant students. The level of education attended by the student increases the differences in academic achievements between native and immigrant students. Marital status, on the other hand, reduces the gaps in school performance. To narrow the school performance gap among students, the Cameroonian government should focus on students by highlighting linguistic skills, supplying specific teachers for immigrant students, and offering psychosocial staff to assist them. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023.