Schools urged to realise pain of migrant children

Education institutions need to be aware of the pain experienced by immigrant children who are torn between two identities as they juggle between their strong ties to their culture and the need to fit into the new society they are living in.

And, to add insult to injury, very often, no matter how hard they try to "fit in", these children will always remain labelled as the "others" or as "migrants", Simone Galea told a public lecture entitled Approaches To Immigration And Multiple Identities.

Drawing on her experience in a Maltese school, Dr Galea recounted how the head of school told her that "they", immigrant children, are welcome in the school. However, the head then added that, while the school would accept these children, it would not change for them and they would have to change and adapt to the system they are living in.

Dr Galea, from the University of Malta's Department of Education Studies, explained that immigrant children's identities are in transit as they are torn between the need to assimilate to the Maltese system or retain their cultural identities. In this globalised world, it is very important that educational institutions understand this, she stressed, adding that this "hybrid identity" need not be perceived as something negative or schizophrenic.

Notably, she said, migrants' identities are in flux. However, so are the schools' identities in spite of their resistance to change. During the lecture, held at the University of Malta, lectures were also delivered by Andrew Azzopardi, from the University's Department of Youth and Community Studies, and guest lecturer Mina Dye-Sharp project manager of the Bradford Community Housing Trust in the UK.

Ms Dye-Sharp gave a detailed account of the cultural transitions that took place in Bradford where the cultural minority groups outnumber the natives. "The way immigration is regarded depends on the history of that country and both Britain and Malta are accustomed to emigration," she noted.

Ms Dye-Sharp stressed on the importance of "engaging people to communicate" to bridge cultural barriers.