Department for Education and Skills’ (DfES) report for Children of Ethnic Minority in 2006/07 showed a bleak picture for students of ethnic minorities living in the UK – as they were all performing below the national average. However the picture was even more disturbing for Turks/Kurds because their children were the least performing out of all the groups that had a considerable size in the UK. I am hoping things have gotten better for the Turkish community since then as there have been many steps taken to stop this rot, especially by the Turks themselves. They have opened many supplementary and/or weekend schools all over the UK especially in London and Leicester where there is a considerable amount of Turkish/Kurdish migrants. In one of these weekend schools, called the Horizon supplementary school (located in Leicester), I obtained the Keystage 2 (KS2) and Keystage 3 (KS3) results of nearly 30 students (years 6 to 9) attending their classes and compared them with DfES’s findings. The results were surprising:
Overall, the Horizon school’s pupils had achieved higher in all subjects compared to the national average let alone other ethnic minority groups. The difference is greater in Maths and Science.
These results make it clear that given the opportunity, children of Turkish/Kurdish/Turkish-Cypriot background can perform as good as anyone, if not better. Therefore the Turkish/Kurdish community must carry on supporting the existing supplementary schools; and if possible improve on what they’re doing by opening more schools. This is why I’d recommend all ethnic minorities in the UK to follow the Turks’ example and support their children in achieving their academic potential. Educated children would not only be the source of good for the corresponding ethnic minorities, but also the British society as a whole.
Best wishes!
PS: To add to the comments above, the below newspaper article portrays my views in 2006 (when I had just turned 18). I do not agree entirely with it nowadays; would have worded some things differently… 🙂
Me in Leicester Mercury (August 2006)
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