Immigration to Portugal: An Education System Perspective

Portugal has been a colonising country and nowadays it shows a multicultural demographic structure as a heritage of its past. Is this demographic diversity on the national continental territory accompanied by a general tendency towards integration or is it linked to foreign communities’ isolation and marginalisation? The international students’ category at school and higher education level has been examined to answer to the question: Is social cohesion affected by the growing incoming flows of international students in Portugal and how? Through a literature and data analysis this paper argues that education is crucial for young immigrants’ integration but policies struggle to manage these flows potentially leading to a racism increase.