The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 25

The International News Weekly EDIT
08
December 15, 2017 | Toronto
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How immigrant children
struggle to fit in at school
Over 50,000 children who arrive in Canada each year are often unsure
Joyeeta Dutta Ray
Contributing Editor
of how they will fit in
Ontario rules
Syrian refugee Yaser Nadaf, has come to
Canada as a refugee. Back home, he says, he
drove a truck to support his family.
As is the rule in Ontario, he, like most
new immigrants, has to pass the G1 and
G2 driving tests and then wait for one year
before he can get his G licence.
Since he cannot quickly get his G licence,
he argues, he cannot drive big-haul truck,
Uber cars, etc.
So what Nadef has done is: challenge the
Ontario rule in the Ontario Human Rights
Tribunal.
Now the Ministry of Transportation
in Ontario exempts the waiting period if
immigrants provide authenticated proof
of their previous driving experience from
their home country. Since this Syrian
refugee cannot provide proof of that because
of what he says chaotic conditions, he says
the Ontario rule must be changed so that he
can start earning quickly.
Fair enough.
But this gentleman must also remember
that rules are for a purpose and they
apply to everyone. Ontario authorities
cannot let someone drive on its highways
and jeopardize lives without putting that
person through standard tests. The safety
of people comes first than this gentleman’s
grievances.
Lots of people come to Canada on
temporary visa or work permit, and they
also have to qualify for permanent residence
status by going through various tests and
regulations.
You cannot land here on fine morning
and then start making demands on
the system so that it changes to suit
your requirements. That’s what many
immigrants to this country have been doing
for some time now. This kind of attitude
only leads to backlash and hardening of
attitudes towards immigrants.
Luckily, Canada is a very tolerant
country and it should be respected for it.
Thought for the week
A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile
can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
~William Hazlitt
Diana Nayel immigrated to
Toronto from Sweden with her sister
in June 2012, leaving behind all
things familiar. She started her first
day of grade 5 at Toronto’s Westway
Junior School in the city’s west
end feeling a bit lost. No one spoke
Swedish in her class. She was unsure
of her English skills. How long would
it take to fit in, she wondered.
Muntasir Mohammed arrived
from Dacca, Bangladesh, in 2011.
Although his English fluency helped
him adapt faster to his grade 5
classmates in Etobicoke, he was
uncomfortable carrying homemade
curries to school. His lunchbox
always contained cookies or chicken
nuggets, compromising nutrition for
the need to fit in.
Salma Syed (whose has been
name changed for privacy) wears
her hijab with pride, like many of
her grade 7 classmates at Toronto’s
Islington Junior Middle School, but
is quick to take it off when she’s out
with her friends in an effort to blend
in with society at large. Her parents
immigrated from Dacca, Bangladesh
in 1999.
For 12-year-old Aneeka Ray (full
disclosure: she is my daughter),
she arrived in Toronto in 2013 from
Bangkok, Thailand, and being a
newcomer made her the easy target
of a cyber bully. She was not the first
one, either. According to her friend,
other shy newcomers had faced
similar experiences at school.
Finding ways to assimilate
Each year, over 50,000 children
arrive in Canada, and like Nayel,
Mohammed, Syed and Ray, they are
unsure of how they will fit in.
Some are war refugees or typhoon
victims. Some have parents with low
literacy levels. Others are financially
challenged. And the education
system itself is unfamiliar.
Their parents or guardians often
get sucked into their new world of
struggle, leaving children to fend for
themselves. Kids are whisked off to
a neighbourhood school, expected
to take to it like fish to water, even
though it is difficult to find their
bearings.
Canadian schools offer free
education and equal opportunities.
But is the system doing enough to
ensure newcomer children a chance
at educational success?
“In many schools a sizeable
number of students are naturalized
Canadians from various ethnic
backgrounds,” explains Manoshi
Chatterjee, who teaches in an
elementary school in York region.
“Once a new child sees a peer group of
the same ethnicity, they are quicker
to form a bond. Group activities help
them participate and assimilate.”
This was true for Nayel. Even
though she isn’t of Somali descent
herself, when she started a new
school her second year of being in
Canada where there were many
Somali Canadians, the setting felt
more familiar.
“My school in Sweden was in a
Somali neighbourhood,” explains
Nayel. “My new friends made me feel
much more at home (in Canada).”
For Nayel, English as Second
Language (ESL) classes helped
polish her linguistic skills, which
she initially felt insecure about.
“ESL programs play a pivotal
role for immigrant students who
struggle with reading, writing or
communicating in the language,”
explains Chatterjee whose school
(she didn't want to disclose the
name for privacy), like most others,
champions the program.
Supporting newcomer students
Jane Chandler, an elementary
school teacher with the Peel Board
District Board in Mississauga,
says that schools play a vital role
in helping students adjust. She
highlights the Peel board’s parenting
centres, where adults are encouraged
to participate with their children, as
a prime example of this.
“This acts as a wonderful
platform,” Chandler says. “The
family gets to know the culture
of Canadian schools. Parents get
opportunities to share stories about
their own culture and learn from
others. We encourage students to
speak their own language at home.
This may slow down the English
learning process, but in the long
run, it (multilingualism) has several
benefits.”
Keya Ghosh, an elementary
school supply teacher for the Toronto
District School Board (TDSB), hones
in on diversity.
“Our schools play a critical role
in making students appreciate their
differences,” Ghosh says. “[Students]
are taught to value the richness of
their own culture and at the same
time develop respect for others.”
Ghosh points to special events
celebrated across TDSB schools
like African Heritage Month and
‘multicultural day’ as examples of
this.
Outside of the Greater Toronto
Area, initiatives like Newcomers’
Orientation Week, which was held
by one Windsor, Ont. high school,
help to put anxious newcomers at
ease.
Canadian schools among top in the
world
The efforts Canadian schools
make to support newcomer and
culturally diverse students are
perhaps a reflection of the country’s
education system in fairly good
shape.
According to an international
education survey reported by CBC,
Canadian schools are among the top
globally, right after China (Shanghai
province), Korea, Finland, Hong
Kong and Singapore.
The report states, “Students
in Canada tend to perform well
regardless of their socio-economic
background or the school they
attend.” On a regional level, Ontario,
Alberta and British Columbia rank
highest in reading skills.
“A quality and free education
helps every new immigrant family
get equal opportunity in one of the
best school systems in the world,”
says Chatterjee. “It is one of the
major factors that have helped
newcomers integrate into Canadian
society.”
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