A Study on the Impact of Parental Migration on Wellbeing and Mental Health of Left-Behind School Children

Parental migration has become increasingly common in Sri Lanka, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic crisis that has followed the pandemic, the loss of job opportunities, and the desire to improve one’s standard of living have all contributed to this trend. This has led to a situation where mother or father has to go abroad leaving his or her family alone. This phenomenon has caused a significant number of children to be left behind. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of parental migration on the well-being and mental health of these children. BT/Puthukudiyiruppu Kannaki Maha Vidyalayam was selected to obtain quantitative data because it is a rural school in Batticaloa District with a significant number of left-behind children of parental migration. It is only one school in the village, and 90% of the parents in the village have enrolled their children in this school. Left behind children from Grade 6 to 10 of were surveyed to obtain the necessary data, which is nearly 45% of the total left behind in the school to receive required data, standard questionnaire was utilized and researchers used SPSS software to analyze the gathered data. The findings of the study showed that more than 58 % of the left behind school children were more likely to be irregular at school, to experience anxiety and loneliness, and to have lower educational attainment. The findings of this study clearly suggest that parental migration has a significant impact on the wellbeing, mental health, and educational performance of left-behind children. Future researchers can investigate this issue with massive population to develop interventions to support these children.