In an article in The Irish Times on 20 September last, radio host George Hook referred to the crucial need for an open discussion on race, culture and nationality when talking about education. I can’t agree more, but it might be a good idea for him to begin by practicing what he preaches.
Ireland has come full circle when it comes to migration, yet we have not had a fair, honest, equal debate on the subject. People in the media and those in positions of power, authority or influence are often quick to pass judgement on immigrants, oblivious or indifferent to the fact that the accused have no voice or vote to share their side of the story.
In the same article, Hook goes on to defend the idea of private schools as an escape route from classes crowded with kids from various linguistic backgrounds, where the teaching quality suffers as a result.
From a man who apparently wields huge influence over public opinion – going by the popularity of his show and of him as an anchor – one would expect a little more maturity and restraint. One would also expect he would take the trouble to get his facts straight and attempt to look a little beyond the seemingly narrow periphery of his interests and awareness.
Hook makes two assumptions here that are quite unfounded. One is that immigrant parents do not or cannot send their children to private school. His article by his own admission is about sacrifice, ironically. What better example of parental sacrifice can be there than of parents leaving home and hearth so their children can have a better life? Of course there are immigrant children in private schools at all levels.
His second assumption is that children with language problems are ‘dumbing down’ and holding back classes that would otherwise have been able to make more rapid progress. A recent ESRI study warns over this risk of ghettoisation on the strength of data which indicates that “half of immigrant primary pupils are in schools with large number of children from overseas, making up more than 20 per cent of the population. In comparison, 40 per cent of the country’s 3,300 primary schools have no immigrants at all.” If anything, this uneven distribution of primary school children is only aggravating the problem and making it more long-term.
Hook’s suggestion that parents can buy their way out to a more homogenous “white, Catholic and English-speaking” environment is not even a sound financial proposition, let alone the ethical and social doubts it raises.
He cites the example of an American school which educated children that speak 52 different languages among them, saying he was astonished because it made meaningful teaching impossible. Perhaps Hook, who so obviously respects and loves everything American, is unaware of the fact that Irish migrant children – documented or otherwise – have done rather well for themselves in this multicultural environment.
I also doubt that officials at Government and international student recruitment managers at cash-starved universities will appreciate his remarks, given they are detrimental to the former’s untiring efforts to bring in overseas students, particularly from outside the EU, for the financial revenue they contribute.
Ireland is at the crossroads now, and only a well-informed society will help the country make the right decisions at the right time. People that wield influence over public opinion will do well to stay informed and educated about an ever-changing world where the balance of power is evidently shifting towards the east, or at the very least away from the west. A head-in-the-sand attitude will certainly prove catastrophic.
Priya Rajsekar is a freelance writer and co-founder of College Canteen, a student- academic social network. priya@college-canteen.com
