One in seven of our children don’t speak English
ONE in seven UK primary school children do not speak English as their first language, it was revealed today.
New figures show over half a million primary school pupils in the UK have a foreign mother tongue - an increase of 25 per cent since 2004.
The report, published by shadow immigration minister Damian Green, showed that in some areas more than 70 per cent of four to 11-year-olds do not have English as their first language and ten schools had no pupils from English-speaking homes.
Teachers warned schools with large numbers of non-English speaking pupils were suffering during inspections and that other pupils weren’t getting the proper help they needed - putting enormous amounts of pressure on teachers.
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In 2004, 452,388 primary school children spoke English as secondary language, but by last year the figure had risen by 113,500 to 565,888.
The findings for secondary schools were similar with 10.6 per cent of 11 to 16 year-olds normally speaking a foreign language - up from 8.8% in 2004.
Mr Green said: "These shocking figures illustrate how difficult life is for many teachers because of the Government's long-term failure to control immigration."
It is estimated that it can cost up to £30,000 a year to educate a non-English speaking pupil.
Mr Green added: “The figures show why we need an annual limit on immigration. The number of pupils with English as a second language makes life difficult for teachers, parents and pupils.”
Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the standard of children’s education is dropping and that more funding is needed to ease the pressure.
He said schools need to “create some facility for translation” to help accommodate the large amount of non-English speaking childen.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) claimed a “comprehensive support package” was available for new arrivals.
A DCSF spokesman said: “We have listened to concerns of headteachers and are increasing funding in the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant to £206m by 2010, to bring students weak in English up to speed."
