RACISM:RACISM IN schools is a crisis waiting to happen unless the appropriate resources are invested now, according to Annette Dolan, assistant general secretary of the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI).
She said to date, language support was the primary focus of needs provision for newcomer students. Students were entitled to two years of English language support in schools and while a reasonable fluency could be achieved in that time, "it takes much longer for students to be able to read and write," she pointed out.
Speaking at the TUI annual congress, Ms Dolan said that while the investment in language support was welcome, a broader approach was needed. The most urgent requirement was intercultural education for teachers.
"The Department of Education and Science has so far failed to provide this essential in-service training," she said. "If we are to work against the development of racism in our schools, teachers must be trained and equipped to impart respect, tolerance and understanding between Irish and non-Irish students in the classroom."
Ms Dolan criticised what she said was the department's failure to recognise the importance of translation services for the parents of ethnic minority students.
"If a person breaks the law, even in a very minor way, that person will have access to interpreters and translators. But foreign national parents have no such entitlement when it comes to their children's educational needs."
Marian Cox, chairwoman of the TUI equality council, teaches in a Balbriggan post-primary school where one-quarter of the students are from ethnic minority backgrounds. "Most of these students want to learn," she said. "The main issue for us is the lack of resources available."
The need for intercultural education was imperative. Helping students to integrate was difficult when a teacher did not have a knowledge of that student's culture, she pointed out.