Crossing to learn: educational mobility and the complexities of borders in Vietnamese students’ schooling

Purpose This paper aims to explore the educational mobility of Vietnamese students residing in Cambodia who engage in daily cross-border commutes to attend school in Vietnam. It also explores how these students navigate legal status, institutional systems, physical distance and social belonging within a transnational educational landscape. Design/methodology/approach This research draws on interviews with Vietnamese students living in Cambodian border provinces. Guided by the theoretical framework of transnationalism from below and the concept of liminality, the study uses thematic analysis to interpret how everyday border crossings for schooling are shaped by diverse forces. Findings This research shows that Vietnamese students residing in Cambodia, when crossing borders daily to attend school in Vietnam, encounter both opportunities and challenges. These journeys provide access to what they perceive as higher-quality education but also expose them to physical risks, emotional strain and frequent disruptions. Gender further influences how students experience and navigate these daily crossings. Research limitations/implications Drawn from a small qualitative sample in a single border region, the findings of this study are not generalizable. Future research could explore similar patterns of cross-border schooling across Southeast Asia or adopt longitudinal and policy-oriented approaches to trace changes over time and advance a broader regional agenda on education in borderland contexts. Originality/value This study expands scholarship on transnational student mobility and educational inequality by focusing on an underexplored site: the Vietnam–Cambodia border. It conceptualizes the border as a space of both limitation and possibility. The findings offer insights into how children and families construct educational meaning amid precarious transnational conditions.