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English 'a foreign language in London's schools'
Last updated at 18:07pm on 09.10.06
Diverse: pupils at Southfields Community College, believed to be Europe’s most multilingual school with more than 71 languages spoken
English is a foreign language in half the primary schools in central London, new statistics show.
Those who speak English as their first language are the minority in inner city areas of the capital.
Nationally, one in five primary pupils are now from an ethnic minority, which means that non-English speakers are in the majority in many schools.
Headteachers are having to accommodate pupils, not just from traditional immigration hotspots such as Pakistan and Bangladesh but also more recent arrivals from Eastern Europe.
A huge increase in students from countries such as Poland is leaving some councils with massive bills to fund extra support such as interpreters.
Government figures obtained by the Tories show that London has the highest proportion of primary and secondary school pupils speaking English as a second language.
In 348 of inner London's 695 primaries, at least half of pupils do not have English as a mother tongue.
Inner London's 132 secondary schools are also experiencing large demographic changes, with more than half of pupils in 53 of them speaking English as their second language.
In outer London, more than one in four primary schools (248 out of 1,136) has at least half of pupils not speaking English as a first language. In secondary schools, the figure is one in five (50 out of 269).
This compares to the North West where a majority of pupils speak a different language at home in just 119 out of 2,581 primary schools.
The figures are similarly low in the East Midlands (51 out of 1,708 primaries) and the East of England (27 out of 2,065).
Overall, one in 16 primary schools across the country (1,080 out of 17,504) has more than 50 per cent of pupils speaking English as a second language.
Conservative leader David Cameron has already called for English to become more widespread among immigrant families.
And the Tories used the school figures to call for urgent action to tackle racial segregation in inner cities.
Tory education spokesman David Willetts, who asked the parliamentary question, said the government risked creating 'ghettos of the future' unless the government tackled the issue.
He said: 'It's tough to teach high-quality education when more than half of your pupils don't have English as their first language.
'There is a real danger that we are creating the ghettos of the future and we have got to be aware of the problems that teachers face in such situations.'
He said that some schools spend too long teaching pupils in their native language rather than forcing them to use English.
'There has been what I would call on extreme form of multiculturalism,' he said.
'We have got to get them speaking English as fast as possible, as young as possible. It's a great pity that the government's current investigations into multiculturalism don't seem to include English and schooling.'
Mr Willetts said the Tories were looking at giving extra funding to headteachers outside London who take on ethnic minority pupils from the capital.
Meanwhile latest figures from the Department for Education and Skills show that one in eight primary school pupils across the country speak English as a second language.
There are now 419,600 primary pupils speaking other languages at home, a rise of 42,000 on last year, and 314,950 secondary pupils, an increase of 16,000, representing almost one in ten.
Reader views (5)
I must say that as a English person living abroad I am absolutly astounded that in some schools English is a 2nd language. I live in Slovakia and it's the native tongue first then the foreign tongue 2nd not the other way around.
- Mick, Bratislava
Great to get a debate going. As someone who went to school in the eighties bi-lingual (English and Bengali), I don't think that I suffered at all. My parents spoke to me in both English and Bengali, and consequently I find myself fluent in two languages, two cultures, two worlds. In fact I believe that because I was bi-lingual, rather than in spite of it I found a fascination for English, language and words.
However having said that I did not grow up in a school that was socially diverse. The case I think that the above article makes is that it is difficult to pick up English when you are constantly surrounded by your mother language. Those of us how are fortunate enough to hear a number of languages spoken during the course of a day will pick up English quicker than those who only hear one language.
As a Bengali parent myself, I would myself think twice about sending my children to a school where other children will struggle with English. The reason is that school is as much social as it is academic. Otherwise I could educate my children at home where they would be happily bi-lingual.
- Arif Ahmed, Clayhall
Shana makes a good point. We need to keep that mother tongue going; language is the gateway into your culture and should not be lost; children need to be bilingual. Kids will pick up English in no time at all. But Bengali needs to be spoken at home and in the Bengali Community otherwise it will be lost. But Bengali should not be spoken in formal class settings; socially yes. So Raj is also absolutely right. The kids need to be spot on proficient in English if they are to make their way in Britain and compete with other pupils. Britain is now their homeland, not Pakistan.
Many children do forget their mother tongue, so as well as offering French or German, schools need to also offer eg Bengali as well.
The real problem lies with the older generation and maybe the new adult arrivals who must be encouraged to learn English so as to be able to manage everyday living in Britain and not rely on interpreters.
- Dhanraj, Basildon, Essex
I am glad that this country can do so much to help people from other nations, and I have a lot of respect for the hard-working teachers who have to try and achieve this. However, I would not like to send my children to a school where English is not the first language. I feel that it might be a disadvange for them in England.
- Raj, Reading
First we have a debate on veils, no politicians want immigrant families to speak English at home. Can politicians please just get on with their day jobs instead of spending so much time dictating to ordinary folks how they should be running their lives. As a Bangladeshi parent, I can advise you that when my daughter started school 3 years ago Early School Advisors/ Nursey Teachers specifically asked me to speak Bengali at home with my children since they will pick up English at school. If David were to do a survey of BME children at age 8 or 10 he would realise that many of these children soon adopt English as their main Language and are not so literate in their mother tongue.
- Shana, London
