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Bilingual projects
in schools will receive Government funding to boost learning
of children who are not native British. Twenty-one LEAs are
chosen to take part in the bilingual pilot schemes. Newham
and Tower hamlets with highest number of bilingual children
are going to be targeted seriously to raise the standard of
education because they are at the bottom of the educational
league table.
Bilingual education
should have been the part and parcel of British education
system 50 years ago when bilingual children started attending
state schools but neither LEAs nor native teachers recognize
bilingualism. This can have a very negative effect on their
cognitive, emotional and social development. Muslim children
suffer more than others. Supporters of bilingual teaching
have long argued that it has wide benefits such as improving
skills in dealing with people from other cultures. When pupils
have to conceptualise and grasp issues in a foreign language
as well as in their mother tongue, it will help develop an
ability to understand complex and multifactual relationships
between various themes.
According to recent
figures, the highest number of Pakistani pupils is in primary
schools. They come to schools with multiple languages. They
are forced to learn English while their mother tongues are
ignored. In my opinion teaching English is cultural imperialism
in action. In the evening and at weekend they attend Masajid
where they are exposed to Arabic and Urdu languages. By the
time they are seven they will be forced to learn one of the
European languages. On the other hand native children come
to schools where they find positive co-relation between school
and home. By the time they are seven, will be exposed to the
teaching of a European language while Muslim pupils right
from Nursery level are bombarded with variety of different
languages. They become jack of languages but master of none
and there is a possibility that a minority develops negative
attitudes towards languages.
Bilingual education
is not going to help Muslim children to raise their standard
of education because native teachers are not suitable and
the management of LEAs is in the hands of those who not fit
for such adventures. Diversity is not a problem but rather
strength. Specialist schools, city academies and extra funding
are not going to help Muslim children. Master classes for
most gifted pupils have failed to ensure enough pupils from
minority groups. Millions of pounds spent on booster classes
for 11-years-old have made little difference to primary standard.
Numerous Whitehall initiatives had failed to tackle growing
inequalities. Schools in some of the most deprived urban areas
of England are still struggling to raise standards despite
billions of pounds of extra government funding. Inner cities
secondaries are falling even further behind affluent schools
in the suburbs. Achievement in deprived areas has not risen
sufficiently in the past decade.
According to Tim
Bridghouse, state education in London is in crises. The reason
is that the needs and demands of the bilingual pupils have
always been neglected. The number of Newham pupils permanently
excluded from their schools for unacceptable behavior increased
again in the last academic year. The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
identified institutional racism as a major factor disadvantaging
minority ethnic groups. One of the deepest expressions of
institutional racism affecting immigrant communities, and
one that has been long documented, is he unequal treatment
of their children by the education system. They are motivated,
but knocked back by their experiences of the school system.
They are often treated more harshly and viewed with lower
teachers expectations on the basis of teachers’ assumptions
about their motivation and ability. Liz Brooker of Institute
of Education found evidence of institutional racism from the
day children started schools. State schools are unable to
cater for the emotional, social and spiritual development
of Muslim children. Parents can withdraw their children from
assembly but only a small minority does in the culturally
mixed London Borough of Newham; only five children are exempted
in 2001-2002.
The silent majority
of Muslim community has been engaged in setting up Muslim
schools with Muslim teachers as role models. Now there are
more than 120 schools and more are in the pipeline, four of
them are state funded while others have to charge fees. The
waiting lists are lengthy. There are thousands of parents
who can’t afford to pay but they would like their children
to attend Muslim schools. There should be an alternative and
British Government should be thinking seriously about introducing
Voucher System so that parents can choose where to send their
children. DFES and LEAs should provide financial help to set
up schools.
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