Migration and the Changing Face of Education
Globalisation means that we now all live, work or communicate with people who are different. In this global village, religious faith plays a central role in the way that people understand or from their culture and identity. Human being is a product of his culture, language and faith. There is a positive co-relation between language and culture. Parents have the right to raise their children in faith based schools. Those who object to this right display their contempt for parental rights and sadly intolerance for the religious convictions of others. It is not only Muslims but other communities have been trying to set up their own schools for their children. I set up the first Muslim school in 1981 and now there are 166 Muslim schools and only 11 schools are state funded. There are four Sikh state funded schools. Hindu state funded school was set up in Harrow last year and next year a Hindu state funded school would emerge in Leicester. Even Black community is thinking of setting up its own schools for black children with black teachers.
A study by Bristol University reveals that a high level of racial segregation in Oldham schools and tension between communities resulted in recent riots in 2001. A report by the Institute for Community Cohesion found that native parents were deserting some schools after finding their children outnumbered by pupils from ethnic minorities. The native parents do not want their children to be educated along with migrant children. Schools in parts of England are becoming increasingly segregated. Many of the schools and colleges are segregated and this was generally worsening over recent years. This is RACISM. The solution is that those schools where Muslim children are in majority may be opted out as Muslim Academies. State schools with non-Muslim monolingual teachers are not in a position to satisfy the social, emotional needs and demands of the bilingual Muslim children. Majority of them leave schools with low grades. They find themselves cut off from their cultural, linguistic and spiritual identities. Muslim children in state schools feel isolated and confused about who they are. This can cause dissatisfaction and lead them into criminality.
Immigration is an unstoppable face of modern society, and immigrants will need help integrating, but the host society needs to show zero tolerance to non-EU and EU citizens who clearly don't like being here. The second generation of Muslim migrants is facing a huge challenge because they did not think even for a second before that someone would say, 'You are not welcome. Native Brits feel that their culture and language is superior and every Tom and Harry must learn English and forget their own languages, cultures, literatures and poetry. It is the native Brits who need to learn and respect those who are different. Immigrants are also human beings with social, emotional and spiritual needs and demands. They are not just economics for the economic prosperity.
British children in Spain come with this mentality, wanting to keep themselves to themselves and feel no obligation to integrate into Spanish way of life. The Brits are the most problematic minority group in Spanish schools. They are worst at learning the host language and integrating into school life than any other nationality in Spain's state schools. They have negative attitudes towards integration. They carry a strong sense of English linguistic superiority. They were embarrassed to speak Spanish because the other students laughed at them. Brit children had very little or no concept of Spanish culture or social life. They watched UK TVs and English language radios. Their parents do not speak Spanish nor have Spanish friends. In English ghettos, Spaniards fear to tread. They have no interest in being part of Spanish society.
Iftikhar Ahmad
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk