Large number of immigrants poses challenge for schools in Helsinki suburbs

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The number of pupils of immigrant origin is increasing constantly in schools in the suburbs of Helsinki.
      Next autumn, as many as 50 out of 60 pupils starting the seventh grade at the Myllypuro comprehensive school will speak a language other than Finnish as their mother-tongue.
      ”This is the last moment to realise that the schools in Eastern Helsinki are in a special position”, says Anneli Luotonen, the principal of the Myllypuro lower secondary school.
      ”Teaching alone is not enough to handle all the challenges the school is facing”, Luotonen adds.
     
The growth in the share of immigrant pupils is not distributed evenly within the capital, as frequently immigrants end up living in areas with a large number of municipal rental units and a low education level.
      In addition to Myllypuro, such areas include for example Kontula, Mellunkylä, Jakomäki, Malmi, and Vuosaari.
      Suburban schools have to handle a number of simultaneous challenges, including the pupils’ multiple cultural identities, learning problems, and marginalisation.
      In order to prevent potential marginalisation and to increase tolerance among pupils, the City of Helsinki launched a so-called Urban Project that was carried out in cooperation with the city’s social services department in the period from 2001 through 2006. The project was financed by the European Union.
     
The results were good. ”The project enabled supervision and monitoring, making it possible to keep the pupils at school”, principal Luotonen reports.
      The social workers also helped to resolve bullying and other conflict situations, while developing solidarity among various groups. Moreover, they taught tolerance to pupils, arranging activities during breaks.
      ”We were bitterly disappointed with the decision to discontinue the project”, Luotonen concludes. The City of Helsinki’s Education Department was not able to raise the necessary funding.
     
However, some permanent improvements were also achieved with the EU money.
      The positive effects of the Urban Project can still be seen in the Vesala comprehensive school as well as in the Keinutie primary school, according to the principals of these schools.
      In Vesala, an internet café that was set up in the premises of the lower secondary school is still being used, particularly by pupils of immigrant origin.
      In order to improve the communication between the school and the pupils’ parents, a network service was established and IT courses were arranged for parents.
      In recent years, there has been a distinct growth in the number of those pupils who have applied to lower secondary schools mentioning the Vesala school as their first priority.
      One of the solutions relating to the challenges for suburban schools would be a more intensified cooperation between schools and social services.
      At present, the differences in the achievements of various schools in Helsinki are the largest in Finland.
     
At the same time, the achievements of a comprehensive school in Helsinki can be predicted with a 70-% probability based on the location of the school in question.
      In other words, the majority of differences between the achievements of various pupils are a consequence of their background and not directly attributable to the quality of instruction.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Immigrants say child welfare officials lack cultural understanding (11.4.2007)
  More children seeking asylum in Finland (27.2.2007)
  Helsinki Day Care Services intensifies teaching Finnish to immigrant children (16.11.2005)

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