[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: The State of Bigotry in JKR's Homeland

[Ladi lyndi]

> Ali ponders:-
> 
> The lawyer in me wondered if it wasn't just
> xenophobia, but whether 
> it amounted to discrimination, contrary to our
> Race Relations Act.
> 
> The idea of turning a child down because they
> happen to speak 
> another language first, sounds ridiculous to
> me, and is certainly 
> abhorrent. I would love my children to be
> bilingual.
> 
> There are some language problems in my kids'
> school, and I guess it 
> does bring the "standards" down a bit - we
> don't by the way 
> have "grades", kids automatically go up a level
> every year. 

Lynn:

>From what we understand, the schools in the area
are either not equipped or not willing to deal
with bi-lingual children.  Part of the problem is
that many of the kids are only there for a short
time, usually 3 years, and perhaps the schools
just don't have the resources to deal with the
constant stream or just don't want to.  However,
what the schools have said is that the tests end
up being lower since one year just isn't enough
time to bring the kids up to the language and
academic standards and then the test results are
lower, which hurts the school standings.  How in
the world this applies to a four year old I have
yet to figure out.  They have national tests for
four year olds?  However, perhaps they feel they
need to follow the policy without exception. 
Again, though, without finding out just where a
student falls linguistically and academically
seems strange to me.  On the other hand, there
could be kids from as many as 15 different
countries who are needing to start school, all
with a different language and different academic
standards.  Perhaps by refusing them all they are
trying to avoid being accused of discrimination
by saying the academic standards of this country
are okay but that one is lacking.

We're hoping to send our daughter to the American
Community School.  They are used to bi-lingual
students and celebrate the diversity of the
student population.  I think it's a great way for
kids to be exposed to a variety of cultures and
learn to about cultural differences.

Lynn

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