Helsinki school restricts use of mother tongue in classrooms

Education Department overrules ban

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The City of Helsinki Education Department has informed the Laakavuori Comprehensive School in the capital’s district of Mellunmäki that it must not forbid its primary school pupils from speaking their native languages during lessons.
      Until now, the school has recommended that the pupils should use Finnish at school regardless of their own mother tongue. Finnish has been spoken during lessons and at lunch, while pupils have been free to use a language of their choice during breaks.
     
Headmaster Janne-Pekka Nurmi justifies the practice on pedagogical grounds.
      "It makes the learning of Finnish easier, which in turn helps children to integrate into Finnish culture", Nurmi claims.
      If pupils are allowed to use their own languages, it tends to lead to situations in which they interpret the teacher’s instructions to each other, while those with the weakest knowledge of Finnish cannot improve their language skills at all, according to Nurmi.
     
Marjo Kyllönen from the Education Department regards the restriction of the use of languges as a wrong approach to facilitating the integration of immigrants.
      She reports having instructed the school's principal that the improvement of the Finnish language has to be supported in some other ways.
      "Basically all pupils have the right to use their own mother tongue, while it is up to the school to see that this does not lead to alienation. When studying the Finnish language, it is naturally recommendable to use Finnish", Kyllönen notes.
      For the time being, the City of Helsinki Education Department has no official policy relating to the use of various native languages at school.
     
The view expressed by the Education Department persuaded the Laakavuori Comprehensive School to soften its policy.
      "Primarily, we could stress to the parents how important it is that Finnish would be used in these situations. They can then discuss the matter with their children", says Janne-Pekka Nurmi.
      Nurmi agrees with the research results confirming that a good command of one’s mother tongue is beneficial when learning foreign languages. He stresses that pupils are offered tuition both in Finnish and in their own native language.
      "Six native languages are being taught at our school, while numerous other languages are taught in some neighbouring schools", Nurmi concludes.
     
There are 210 pupils in the Laakavuori School. The largest groups of foreign origin are the Somali, Russian, Albanian, and Estonian minorities.
      In Headmaster Nurmi’s view the language recommendations given by the Laakavuori Comprehensive School cannot be compared with the current language dispute in Sweden (see linked article), as the Helsinki school has not forbidden its pupils to use their native languages during free time, including breaks.
      Finnish is an official minority language in Sweden. Last year, a 'Swedish only' decree at a certain office in the Uppsala City Social Services Department led to a dispute that is now being handled by both the Swedish Discrimination Ombudsman and the Council of Europe.
     
A family of four resident in Helsinki’s district of Vesala, the Kivinens - who speak only Russian at home - believe that pupils must be allowed to use their native languages even at school.
      Otherwise their mother tongue could become rusty due to the lack of use, they argue.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Uppsala social services manager issues ’Swedish only’ decree (12.12.2007)

Links:
  City of Helsinki Education Department

Helsingin Sanomat