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About
Migrant
Youth 
IMC photo archives
Illinois farmworker youth - like
their
counterparts in many other states - face serious challenges in being
able
to graduate from high school, prepare for and transition to higher
education,
and acquire the skills, competencies and experiences needed for entry
into
the non-agricultural workforce.
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Frequent mobility, disruptions
in education
and significant differences in state and local standards and
requirements
present many obstacles along the path to graduation.
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The lack of English of English
language proficiency
and gaps in skills and concepts resulting from so much discontinuity in
their education often pose additional problems for school success. This
is especially critical when students must pass standards-based
assessments
that are tied directly to graduation.
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During the time that farmworkers
are upstream
in the spring, summer and fall seasons for planting, growing and
harvesting,
a family's economic survival may depend on their youth's ability to
contribute
to the family income. When families are presented with the choice of
having
their in school and out of school youth attend educational activities
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and not working, parents must decide in the best interest of the
family, which usually means working. Even when school programs
are
offered in the evenings (and this is often not possible), the ability
of
farmworker youth to engage in serious academic study after a long
day of manual labor is often hampered.
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In addition to the above
obstacles, many farmworker
youth do not have access to technology thus making it difficult to
develop
computer literacy and internet proficiency - essential for new entrants
into today's workforce.
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