The Potential Vulnerability of Romanian Children’s Remigration: Educational Resilience or Failure?

The economic and health context in recent years has led to an increase in return migration of Romanians and an increased propensity to settle down in their country of origin. Remigration can be lived as a life experience with an extremely high vulnerabilising potential, with obvious consequences in terms of adaptation and psychological consequences, and a negative impact especially on children and adolescents. The present study is based on an online survey conducted between July 2023 and February 2024 among teachers in the North-East Region of Romania and had the overall objective of assessing the effects of return migration on Romanian remigrant pupils. This phenomenon was analysed on the basis of teachers’ perceptions of the behaviour of pupils who have experienced emigration, followed by remigration, equivalence of studies and integration or reintegration into the Romanian education system. Our study is exploratory and could be followed by the analysis of the same phenomenon from other perspectives (children, parents). The results of the study show that after remigration, some children and adolescents are faced with many educational and social adjustment problems for which they were not prepared. Remigration increases stress, and educational integration is in most cases a difficult process. The negative impact translates into limited opportunities for emotional, social, and intellectual development, or even behavioural disorders, which affect the quality of life of remigrant pupils and their long-term quality of life. Positive aspects of children’s remigration have also been identified.