4/30/2008 8:36:00 AM
The Times 30 April
Immigration is putting schools under immense pressure as they are having to teach record numbers of children whose first language is not English. One in seven pupils at primary school and more than one in ten at secondary school have an overseas language as their mother tongue. New statistics also show that an increasing number of schools are breaking the law by cramming more than 30 pupils into infant classes. Two hundred did so this year, compared with 130 last year. Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: “The problems stem from the Government’s failure to plan for population changes – not from the existence of migrants.” The data show a decreasing white school population, from 82.1 per cent in primary schools in 2004 to 80 per cent this year. This was mirrored by the fall in the number of pupils who are native English speakers, from 89 per cent of primary school children to 85.5 per cent over the same period. The National Union of Teachers said that schools needed more money to meet the needs of children whose first language was not English. Times
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