Children of immigrants: Yes to new language, No to segregation

The children of people who come to live in Europe will have to learn the language of the country they enter from pre-school age. They must also have equal access to education like all children and should not be segregated from other children. Those are among the findings of a report that will be debated by MEPs in Brussels. The own-initiative report by Finnish Liberal Hannu Takkula also calls for children to have access to tuition in their mother tongue so they retain their culture.

The report comes in reaction to a consultative Green Paper by the European Commission last year on how Europe should address the impact immigration will have on education standards.
 
The Takkula report wants the children of immigrants to be fully involved in extra-curricula activities to get them more involved in the school society. The Finnish Member also wants a counselling service made available to deal with instances of bullying because a child does not fit in.
 
Another aspect of the report is a call for consideration to be given to recruiting teachers from abroad so children can keep contact with their parent's culture.