Monday, June 08, 2009


Children from minorities

struggle in schools


Minister of Education and Research Bård Vegar Solhjell


Children from language minorities do less well in school, compared with other children, according to a new report on "Migrant Education" from OECD, which will be presented in Oslo this week.(Photo: Education Minister Baard Vegar Solhjell)

The OECD report points out that the performance by children from first generation immigrants is particularly poor, in particular when it comes to vocational training.

The report notes that children with immigrant background are underrepresented in Norwegian kindergartens, which means that their proficiency in Norwegian is not good enough before they start primary school. They therefore also score low in school language tests.

Education Minister Baard Vegar Solhjell says the report reveals a very worrying situation.

- We see a tendency towards a class gap in Norwegian schools, and we are not able to use our educational system to remove inequalities. This is dramatic, he says.

The OECD will also produce reports on the situation in five other nations, namley Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Source: NRK/Norway Post 

No comments: