Educating the children of migrants: a big challenge for European society

11.25.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 2nd Apr 2009

The European Parliament adopted, by a large majority, during its plenary session in Brussels an own-initiative report on the education of the children of migrants drafted by Hannu Takkula (Suomen Keskusta, Finland), which puts pressure on the EU and Member States to take action on one of the principal challenges of modern society. Migration has increased over recent decades, and is continuing to grow, and affects even the Member States without a colonial tradition. It is changing in many places the composition of schools and is a challenge for the teaching profession which does not receive training in how to deal adequately with this new form of classroom diversity.

Cultural differences frequently hamper understanding and dialogue between pupils and between pupils and teachers with the sad consequence that the educational attainment of migrant children is considerably lower than that of non-migrant children and that a large number of children in schools from a migrant background are in a precarious socio-economic situation. This situation is unjust as migrant children's talents are often not discovered and the frustration this creates causes disadvantages for the host country.

"It is important to integrate the families of migrant children because their success at school depends also on the family environment, and if parents do not understand the importance of the school work of their children, they will not encourage them" , explains Hannu Takkula.

"This is why I call on the governments of the twenty seven Member States to ensure education for the children of migrants, including the teaching of the official languages of the host country and the promotion of their native languages. I feel it is essential that the parents , and especially the mothers, of migrant children should be involved in the programme for teaching the official languages of the host country, to ensure that the children are not separated from society and to help them integrate at school", he added.

According to the rapporteur, language learning (mother tongue and the language of the host country) must be encouraged from pre-school age, in order to promote the inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities, such as the Roma people, in European society.

"The willingness of migrants to learn the language of the host country does not mean that they need to abandon their own languages and cultural identity", said Alan Butt Philip, lead European candidate for the Welsh Liberal Democrats.