Training|According to the study, the number of immigrant children in the school does not dramatically affect the skills of the students of the native population.
Minister of Education Anders Adlercreutz (r), so-called school shopping should be a concern when talking about the learning difficulties of children with immigrant backgrounds.
“Segregation on a general level is a problem and, of course, school shopping exacerbates that problem,” states Adlercreutz.
School shopping means that parents apply for a school place for their child at a school other than the local school that the municipality has assigned to the family.
On Monday a joint study by the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM) and the University of Jyväskylä related to the 2022 Pisa results was published, according to which the differences in the learning differences of native Finns and students with an immigrant background are largely explained by language skills and socioeconomic status.
In the same survey, it was found that the average level of competence of the students of the native population did not vary greatly depending on how many students with an immigrant background were in their school.
“In the light of these studies, it [koulushoppailulle] there is no visible need if someone thinks about what is a good or bad school”, says Adlercreutz.
On the other hand, the learning results of children with an immigrant background suffer if the school has a large number of students with an immigrant background.
“This may be due to the fact that then the position of Finnish or Swedish in school is weaker. Then language learning will weaken for children with an immigrant background”, Adlercreutz estimates.
“At this time, the learning and reading fluency of children with an immigrant background, which was a key factor in learning, easily develops more poorly. In other words, we need to invest in reading and supporting reading, but also in slowing down the development of segregation.”
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“Even though the gap has narrowed, the direction is still wrong,” says Adlercreutz.
However, according to him, this government’s term aims to address it by increasing the teaching of the mother tongue in primary schools by two hours a week.
In addition, 100 million euros will be added to learning support this term of government, and in addition, for example, schools located in socioeconomically weaker areas can apply for equality money, which is budgeted for around 50 million euros per year.
In the process however, the government, for example, cuts 58 million euros from support for the integration of municipalities. However, Adlercreutz emphasizes that the municipalities’ obligations have not been reduced despite this.
“So it shouldn’t be reflected, for example, in how one participates in early childhood education or what support is given in schools. It is reflected in the municipalities’ budget, so it may lead to the cutting of some optional services. But from our point of view, it was important that it does not specifically affect language learning,” states Adlercreutz.
According to the study, children with an immigrant background also experienced more bullying than others. According to Adlercreutz, the increased confrontation in society does not at least make the situation easier.
Could there be less confrontation at the government level?
“Perhaps it is pointless to go back to the events of last summer, but it is clear that the more prominent a politician is, the more important it is to follow good manners.”
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