Immigrant children shortchanged by Swedish schools
Published: 24 May 11 16:03 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/33968/20110524/
Immigrant children who arrive in Sweden during the school year don’t get the education they deserve due to schools' inability to address their individual needs, according to Sweden education watchdog.
- Immigrant students get 'Negro' Swedish lesson (20 May 11)
- Sweden's hemspråk: teaching kids their parents' language (12 May 11)
- Immigrants often stuck in the 'wrong' job: study (5 May 11)
And falling furthest behind are kids who have immigrated to Sweden during their primary education.
Among these, only 51 percent qualified for high school last year compared to 58 percent five years ago, according to the National Agency for Education (Skolverket).
The Swedish Schools Inspectorate (Skolinspektionen) is critical of the figures, charging that these students often don’t get the education they deserve.
Moreover, not qualifying to receive a high school in Sweden will have a detrimental effects on the students' chances to compete in society and in the labour market, according to the inspectorate.
The inspectorate is especially of how schools treat students who have recently arrived in the country.
Often newly arrived immigrant children are all lumped together in a communal preparatory class, regardless of their different levels of education.
They can remain in such courses for several years, meaning they often they don’t get a chance to study all the subjects on the standard Swedish schools curriculum, according to the inspectorate.
Sweden's deputy minister for education and minister for integration and gender equality, Nyamko Sabuni, thinks that schools must get better at mapping the education levels of recently arrived students and avoid placing them in preparatory classes.
“I strongly criticise preparatory classes where students are isolated with other new arrivals and separated from Swedish-speaking students. That slows down integration," Sabuni told news agency TT.
But she doesn’t think that the problem lies in lack of financial resources.
“Most importantly, schools must be organised better. It is very much about following the guidelines that are there to ensure that these students have a better chance,” said Sabuni.
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Sweden needs ditch digger and porters too...
Get a life....phew!
you guys are so mean. You speak as if Swedes don't migrate to other nations for the purpose of livng there. You are so happy to see Sweden destroying the educational opportunities of immigrants children. Swedish language is not everything, it is only a part of the integration process and integration is a two-way traffic. The Swedish owe immigrants a great deal to make them comfortable, just as other nations make Swedes comfortable in their country. Many of these kids speak excellent English and not all immigrants come from Somalia!!
Those posters you mentioned happen to be some non-Swedes who haven't yet grasped the morality and standard of Swedes and Sweden since they have immigrated here!
We are talking about children here not adults. Children deserve better education and courses. It is true the system lets down this children and by the way it is no secret that these children if they came from Somalia had no basic education - that is not a matter to joke about but it is a serious situation.
These figures tell us nothing other than the obvious - if you start late (at anything), it's hard to catch up. Throwing money at the problem won't change that.
"They can remain in such courses for several years, meaning they often they don't get a chance to study all the subjects on the standard Swedish schools curriculum, according to the inspectorate."
Maybe some of these foreign kids not getting into Gymnasium do have great English? Perhaps they can be employed as proofreaders and editing staff at The Local... ;)
A quick suggestion to all of us from another country, become a cultural liaison or teachers assistant. The opportunities exist for us that no Swede can match.
"we can take it in English" is not good enough English, by the way...
Don't come this country if you can't handle it.
If you, immigrants don't like it here, go the Phuck back to where you came from.
No really wants you here, your just a tax write-off anyway.
And, the crime rates will drop back to pre 9-11 numbers.
Leave them in their caves and there won't be any "problem" any more.
Could it be possible that native English speakers are, by nature, more tolerant, cultutally aware and..dare I say it...intelligent :-)
We do come from more tolerant and less isolated lands.
well, you must be really intellligent, "by nature"...
Nyamko Sabuni , the deputy Minister of Education in Sweden, immigrated from Congo/ Burundi to Sweden under her primary school education . I believe that there were teachers named Syftfel who said that a little girl from Africa who could neithther speak or white well was heading nowhere .
But look ! many years later , she is not only a lawyer , but also a Minister in a country that is full of ignorant cowards that call themselves @Frobobbles
Are you making the ridiculous assertion that the majority of people in the UK, US and Aus like Muslims?
In what alternate universe?
It's true what you say. I actually have a VERY high regard for Nyamko Sabuni as does every Swedish person that I know. But guess what happens when her name comes up on this site? All of our 3rd world refugee friends call her bad names and refer to her basically as a 'sell-out.' Interesting how they call her those names yet she is the most successful, refugee immigrant that Sweden has ever had.
It's the same thing in schools too. Trust me, I've worked in one. If an Arab kid actually cares about learning something, doing something with his/her life, he/she is ridiculed by their peers. I think that the system needs to get less blame and probably the parents more of the blame. After all, they are the ones yelling at and hitting their kids on a regular basis. Not to mention, filling up their kids' heads with lies and filth about the West.
Of course some immigrants call Nyanko Sabuni bad names just as some Swedes call Mona Sahlin terrible things . We are not going to say that what some white people say about white successful public figures is a total reflexion of the thinking of all the white race ,are we ?
Are we going to say that Alof Palme was killed by an Arab at the instruction of his/ her yelling parent , are we ?
I suspect that your definition of "schools " is dissappointigly narrow . You should first pay a vist the Universities in Umeå , Uppsalla , Örebro , Västerås before you write your next comment . There are many many sons and daughters of immigrant who care about learning much more than a racists eye can see .
You better tighten your belt if you are suffering from a complex and other things , because the next time you fall sick , the the doctor who attends to you might just turn out to be the son of an immigrant who was told that Sweden has no time to teach him/ her in "amharic and pashtu" by one @syftfel .
To borrow your nice words : trust me , I have worked in hospitals and universities . I know what I am talking about .
"...studied in an American school overseas"
Which means your classmates were rich by global standards. Meaning their parents could actually impart useful values to them regarding their education and help them progress.
I doubt you were studying with the children of Iraqi sheep farmers or Somalis or any other sort of illiterate, unskilled, broken religious nuts that Sweden is so fond of admitting.
Come on...
your reasoning is wrong because you fail to see that "education" ( which is the subject under discussion ) does not start and end at "high school " . Those immigrants you find in the universties I mentiones had to go through primary , high school , etc , before joining .
Your reasoning is wrong because you ignored to read the first 3 comments before you wrote yours . My comments were directed at some of these people
Your reasoning is wrong because you seem to be of the opinion that :
" If an Arab kid actually cares about learning something, doing something with his/her life, he/she is ridiculed by their peers. I think that the system needs to get less blame and probably the parents more of the blame. After all, they are the ones yelling at and hitting their kids on a regular basis."
I just told you that the above opinion of yours is, subjective , prejudicial and misleading . For example , per capita , Tunisia has more College/ university graduates than Sweden . Surely , it could be absurd to argue that Tunisia is a society that redicules the educated .
For all its faults , even paranoid Iran produces more intellectuals than most of you care to find out before you hit the blogs .
So yes , the system is to blame just as most experts have observed . But this is not to say that some individual parents are not partially responsible for not encouraging their children to focus on education and integration .
That said , bad parents don`t come from only one race or country . You will find Swedish parents that yell , hit and fill up their kids heads with hate and lies about immigrants , other races or societies . You don´t have to look very far to see chaps that were badly brought up that way . You only need to read a few posts to see what I mean .