Integrating Immigrant Children into Schools in Europe

Chapter 4 – Measures for the Integration of Immigrant Children at SchoolEmployment to promote the use of interpreters in municipalities and they can be compensated for theinterpretation costs in home-school cooperation.In other countries, there is no compulsion to provide interpreters although this is often stronglyencouraged. In France, teams of educators are expected to develop a dialogue with immigrant families sothat they are aware of how the system works and of their right to take part in school councils and otheractivities. The use of interpreters to supply this information is advocated. Similarly, in the United Kingdom(England), schools are advised to provide translations of essential information and to use interpreters andbilingual classroom assistants for school admission interviews, assessments, and parent-teachermeetings. In other countries, such as Denmark, the decision to use interpreters is entirely informal, takingplace on a case-by-case basis depending on the individual teacher’s judgement.Availability of additional resource persons/councilsSchools in countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Finland, and the United Kingdom have considerableautonomy with respect to how they meet the needs of immigrant children. They employ a range ofstrategies at their discretion and on their initiative including employing counsellors and/or home-schoolliaison officers. They sometimes also provide a referral service for parents. Luxembourg and Italy also usewhat are termed ‘intercultural mediators’ in their schools. The role of these mediators is flexible, but theytend to be involved particularly in helping pupils and parents with language issues. Specially trainedsocio-cultural mediators are also an option in Portugal in order to develop links between home, schooland the community more generally.In the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia and Romania, where asylum seekers are accommodated inresidence centres, social workers and workers attached to these centres cooperate with schools of thecatchment area to help resolve all matters concerning the schools’ relations with parents, includinginformation about the child’s progress, information on further education opportunities, and so on (inRomania, this role is taken on by non-governmental organisations). In Ireland, the Separated ChildrenEducation Service performs a similar function for unaccompanied minors in the Greater Dublin area.Luxembourg, with its exceptionally high numbers of immigrants (see Chapter 2 on demographic trends),has set up a rather unusual structure for immigrants at the local government level. Municipalities with aforeign population of more than 20 % are required to have commissions consultatives pour étrangers(consultative councils for foreigners). One of the principal tasks of these councils is to address schoolingissues for foreign pupils in the municipality. A structure for so-called ‘new arrivals’ (primo arrivants,nieuwkomers, neuankommende Schüler) has also been set up in Belgium, known as the ‘council forintegration’.Meetings specifically for immigrant familiesIn Luxembourg the ministry of education organises a meeting every year especially for parents of foreignlanguage children in order to explain the different choices open to pupils moving from primary tosecondary education. This meeting is held in French.In other countries, such as Spain (some of the Autonomous Communities), Finland and Sweden, specialintroductory information sessions are held by schools for immigrant parents to explain the educationsystem and to discuss matters of mutual concern. In Finland and Sweden, these meetings are organisedwith interpretation.39