The extension of the research project to find out why some Bangladeshi and Pakistani children under-achieve in school is important for the future of Bradford.
Children from these ethnic backgrounds will make up a growing part of the district's population in the years to come. Bradford must have the biggest possible pool of educated and skilled people if it is to attract and keep the companies it needs to provide jobs and bring renewed prosperity.
So it is vital that all youngsters are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential. And it is right that the way schools react to inequalities of achievement should be subjected to the closest scrutiny to identify ways in which they can help to improve the situation.
However, one key factor cannot be ignored, and it has nothing to do with the schools. Many Bangladeshi and Pakistani children come from homes where English is seldom spoken. They start school at a disadvantage, having first to learn the language in which they are to be taught.
Also, as one of the researchers points out, the parents of Bangladeshi and Pakistani children are often from agricultural backgrounds and are illiterate. Not only do they not understand the school set-up, as she puts it, but they are also unable to help their children with their school work.
It is vital, surely, that youngsters from that sort of background are identified early on, before they reach school age. Outreach education workers should be sent into their homes to help them to learn at least the rudiments of English, and show their parents how they can help their children to help themselves.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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