Problems with ethnically mixed schools
From today’s edition of Radio Netherlands Press Review:
Trouw reports today on the problems with ethnically mixed schools. The paper reports that mixed schools are the government’s proclaimed ideal, but a ‘black’ school trying to attract more white children often gets less government subsidy.
The deputy principal of an Amsterdam primary school says she loves the newfound diversity, but argues that teaching has become much more complicated. “Some of the youngest children learn to read in their first year at school, while others have never spoken one word of Dutch before coming to school here.”
The often highly-educated parents of white children also make different, new demands. Dyslexia, for instance, is a relatively new problem for the school, because it’s not easily discovered in children with a language deficiency. So the school has to offer a more varied educational package but loses out on government subsidies for the children of less well-educated parents.
According to Trouw, teachers and integration specialists agree that the government is at present only paying lip service to its ideals, and more money is needed to motivate schools to become racially and ethnically mixed.
Source: Radio Netherlands, 27 September 2007
