The Changing Aspects of Education and Immigrant Students in England

When a family decides to move to another country the parents do so in hopes that their children would be able to attain an education that would lead them to a better life than the one they left behind in their home country. Parents would often put the entire future in the hands of their children once they’ve entered their new home while they worked to keep the family fed and clothed throughout the years. This was an option for many families who entered Britain during the late 1950’s but for many of the children coming along with their parents they would have to face new challenges. Now in a new country where everyone spoke a different language went to the same schools and lived completely different lives from the ones they once had. Some children were too young to remember the difference while others were forced to quickly learn and assimilate to a new world. Their arrival at their new school was met with difficulties and hardships some would work hard to gain their newfound lives, while others would take a different path and learn the harsh realities of being unable to learn from their new homes. Parents would also have to find people to take care of the youngest children while they went out into the workforce and the elder children went to school.  Students wouldn’t be the only ones to fall on hardships the Educational system was now in the biggest changes that it had seen because now they would be faced with having to find new teachers to deal with the new students as well as language training for the students. These changes in education that would occur during this course of time would help many of them fit into the schools. How the students would benefit from all of these new developments in their lives could only be seen over the course of their education, the educational system on the other hand would develop in a new way.

The chance at a new life and a better education is something that every family wants for their children. So when immigrants from South Asia and the West Indies were given the opportunity to leave their homeland for the prospects of a better life in Britain many took advantage of the prospects at a better life. The families from these two very different areas of the world would face many difficulties in raising children in a new country. West Indian families would face the prospects of the parents both working while the children were in the care of others. For the elder children they would have to quickly assimilate to a new world which involved learning a new language and assimilating to a new culture. The younger children who weren’t of school age would be looked after while their parents were working, some by other family members but for many others they would be looked after by baby minders. A baby minder would be as close to a day care attendant for these children but according to a social worker commented on the true aspirations of a baby minder saying “Perhaps one ought to point out that the motivation of baby minders is so often economic rather than vocational.” The children who were looked after were often in a crowded apartment with up to 10 other children at a time. The children were taught discipline very early on because “a chief virtue in a child is to be quiet and that is rubbed, when necessary by beatings.” (Times, February 14, 1967) The school aged children would be faced with similar beatings at home especially if the parents were contacted at home by the school. The student would be beaten by their parents if the school had complained for an infraction that the student had incurred in school. Some South Asian families would face similar circumstances while others would go through very difficult and harsh circumstances. In some of these cases parents would send their children ahead to Britain so that they may live with relatives while attending school while the parents attained the correct paperwork to follow their children. This would take a short time but in a very rare case Mrs. Mary Dines from the London Council of Social Service had found seven children between the ages of nine and seventeen living alone without their parents whose passports had expired before they had the chance to leave India. Mrs. Dines took over legal guardianship for the children who were at the time trying to live on their own and a local Sikh community helped out by supplying clothing for the family. (Times, Dec. 14, 1968)

Of the many problems to face Immigrant children during this period of time was the ability to learn the English language while they attempted to integrate into the world they were now thrust into. For most schools it was the best to have these children in classrooms filled with native speakers so that they can learn the language quickly. “The scheme is for young people, native white as well as coloured, to help young immigrants to learn more English and settle into the community.”(Times April 16, 1970) With the help of other students it was easiest for some children to learn quickly and become a part of the school community. Though some students would gain a new sense of freedom that they hadn’t had before where they were allowed to speak freely and move around as they couldn’t before. With the influx of new immigrant students teachers would have to learn of new ways to help the students learn the language while keeping them close to the culture of the school setting. In a proposal by Dennis Glenn a teacher who had learned from Indian troops while serving with the 17^th Indian Division in Burma during the war in which he proposed that they would take the children out of the class room for a short period of six months to a year in order to teach them “a reasonable standard of English and British ways” so that they can assimilate into the classroom easier. (Times, May 1, 1962)

Although the method proposed by Mr. Glenn would help in some areas in others where the population of immigrants was higher they would be faced more difficulties. In Middlesex they would need more funding and teachers to cope with the large amount of students that they now had. One of the difficulties was that the immigrants in the area hadn’t migrated from one country but from multiple countries such as in Hornsey where immigrates came from so many different countries that they had multiple ethnic backgrounds in one concentrated area which included people from “Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Indians, West Indians, Polish, Armenians, Pakistani and Chinese.” (Times, Dec. 7, 1963) Many areas would be faced with the problems of over integration of students and would decide to limit the amount of students who would be let into the schools. Some of these limits would be put in place so that the amount of immigrant children didn’t exceed the number of native students. Some areas of Britain deciding to transport the excess amount of students to other schools so that they would all receive the same education, as well as gaining the ability to learn the language with native speakers in their classrooms.

The decision to limit the amount of immigrant children in schools throughout heavily immigrant populated areas in Britain was met with opposition from educators on both sides of the fence. A Chairman from the Bradford Corporation primary education sub-committee which had first proposed the limit said “Both sets of children can suffer if a school has a high proportion of immigrants… The teacher cannot adequately cope.” (Times, Nov. 24, 1964) Another aspect of the mass amount of students was that there were not enough teachers to teach the students who needed help learning the English language. With the lack of teachers many students would also be turned away from schools because of the limits imposed by the amount of immigrant students schools were allowed into the classrooms. The creation of a comprehensive school in Liverpool where more than a third of the students were colored where anyone who wished to attend the school would be allowed was faced with the opposition of most white parents because the school was in an area of the city that was undesirable. “Councillor John Hamilton, Chairman of Liverpool’s education committee, said: “Racial tension is in danger of getting worse in this city.” (Times Jun 14, 1973) This was in fears over the discrimination of the coloured population in areas throughout the city as well as growing tensions over laws in British occupied countries. Many citizens of the country felt that where they lived was where they felt safest over living in other areas where they would be discriminated based on their skin color. Caught in a poverty trap where many generations lived as well as their landlords taking advantage of the situation where the citizens lived in constant fear of losing their homes. In areas such as this the ones who suffer the most are the students because they don’t understand the circumstances that they live in and how hard they truly have to work to get out of their situation.

As time went on the demand of the educational needs of immigrant children began to become a different issue altogether. Studies pointing at the growing disparity in the education of immigrant students and their language, intellectual and social needs from students who “attained a basic proficiency in English” (Times Feb. 10, 1972) Many who come to teach these students find it difficult to find ways of helping these students. Other reports go on to blame the Department of Education and Science for not having the ability to assess the situation and finding ways to change the problems that were occurring within the schools. Secretary of State for Education and Science, Margaret Thatcher told a committee “My department makes no use of [the statistics] whatsoever except to publish them. They do no form the basis of any grant from my department.” (Times, Sep. 27, 1973) Than placing the blame of the problem to a local level at which should have been dealt within the cities themselves and not through the department of education.  The study also noted that there should be an advisory committee to deal with the problems that were arising from this growing problem.

Steps would be taken over the years to change the problems that would plague the schools and the students. Many of them would be drastically different while others would benefit the communities. Towards the autumn of 1967 a West Indian by the name of Tony O’Connor would be the first made headmaster of a school in Worcestershire his reactions towards becoming headmaster were “I don’t care if I am the first, second, third or 250^th West Indian headmaster. I am only interested in carrying out the instructions of the committee which appointed me-to take care of the school and the education of the children.” (Times, Dec. 2, 1967) He was the first to think about the overall effects that the problems were having on the students. Another change happening would be that of Muslim families with school aged daughters who refused to have their daughters attend institutions that were co-ed. In the city of Bradford a group of Muslim fathers wanted the chance to argue towards having their daughters attend an all-girls school because of religious reasons. One of the fathers quoted the Koran saying: “When a Muslim girl reaches puberty she is not allowed to mix with males other than close relatives.” (Times Jan. 7, 1974) Many in the community deciding on starting an all-girls school in the area after the only all-female school had turned co-educational after their daughters had been placed. Many of the families not being informed of the change in advanced. The fight for Muslim schools not only for Secondary education but also for a Muslim University would go on throughout the 1970’s. Fathers who were hoping to further their daughter’s education in accordance to their religious beliefs which followed the Koran.

Another changing dynamic that occurred though out the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s were the noticeable changes in the lives of the students not only in school but also at home. Since many immigrants wished to preserve their heritage many students still lacked language skills other students had problems assimilating to the language. These students would be later met with teachers who would be able to help them learn the language after “nearly 500 student teachers” were hired in order help out the students who were still having problems. These teachers were put into a training course in which they would be taught about the “psychological problems” of immigrant children. (Times Apr. 9, 1968) Reports of concerned British citizens following tensions in the West Indies and the current population that resided in Britain were unjustified after a report on groups of ten year old children where it was examined that “the state of affairs in the West Indies, do not apply to families living in this country” (Times Mar. 15, 1974) The parents of the children were more concerned for their young children and often cared more about their relationships with them. Another report for the likeliness of delinquents in Indian families found that “The relationships between parents and children appeared to be warm and loving and, despite strictness, reasonably harmonious.” (Times Feb. 26, 1976) The noticeable differences compared to the late 1950’s and early 1960’s were in the involvement of the parents in the children’s lives. No longer are their reports of baby minders who were only interested in earning money and disciplined the children in order for them to be quiet. Since day cares were now more readily available for parents to leave their children.

Even though for many immigrant students who had migrated with their parents were told that they must learn English in order to further their education in the late 1970’s a new directive was put in place as a possibility. Nearly two decades later it was possible for the new generation to learn about the culture and language from their home countries. Though faced with opposition at first “The directive instructs states to establish reception centres for children of immigrant workers to determine their educational needs, teach the host country’s language and prepare teachers for the task.” (Times Feb. 28, 1977) Britain would follow France’s efforts for students to be multi-lingual. Other studies conducted towards the end of the 1970’s also indicated that some immigrant children would do better than native students in schools and would achieve higher scores “In critical subjects if English language, mathematics and science,” than native children. (Times Jan. 17, 1980)

In the course of twenty years the lives of the student immigrant population in Britain changed dramatically. Faced with the difficulties of having no knowledge of the language they faced the adversity of being the minority in a country where they wouldn’t be accepted very easily by those who were native to the areas that they would now occupy. Many of them would have to fight for the right to the education they wanted and should have. Others would fight to have the ability to practice their religious beliefs in accordance to their holy book which for many wasn’t the Bible which was predominant in Britain. Through their hardships the kept moving forward in order to overcome everything obstacle that would be thrown their way during two decades. Their futures would be bright and would become a part of the culture of Britain as a whole even if they had to fight their way through.

Note: This paper a based on articles provided by a research team and Professor Alborn