Schools at risk of becoming ‘ghettos’ for non-nationals

SOME schools are in danger of becoming ghettos for non-national students who require assistance in overcoming language and other educational barriers, a union leader has claimed.

Annette Dolan, assistant general secretary of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), will raise the issue at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions biennial conference in Belfast today.

She said there are high concentrations of students from minority ethnic backgrounds in particular areas due to planning and housing policy, or the already depressed nature of an area.

“Because of the enrolment policies of voluntary secondary schools, vocational schools and community and comprehensive schools have a larger intake of students from minority ethnic backgrounds,” Ms Dolan said.

The voluntary sector includes around 400 religious-owned institutions.

“In some instances, it seems that some schools are in danger of becoming ghettoised and this must be faced squarely and addressed. We have to learn from the mistakes made in this regard in other jurisdictions,” Ms Dolan said.

She will be proposing a motion on intercultural education at the ICTU congress, calling for additional resources and staff to facilitate effective integration in schools and colleges.

Ms Dolan said students from minority ethnic backgrounds make up one quarter of the enrolment in many schools, some of which have students from more than 20 countries in their classrooms.

The Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) yesterday published a framework document to support English language teaching provision for migrant workers.

Minister Síle de Valera said funding has been made available within the adult literacy budget which has increased almost 20-fold to €23 million since 1997.