Germans quit Berlin school, sparking migrant debate

Reuters ^ | July 19, 2005 | Nicola Leske

[knighthawk]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkish, Arabic and Vietnamese fill the air in the playground outside the Eberhard Klein school in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, where German is a foreign language.

The last four German pupils left the secondary school in the district filled with immigrants just south of the government quarter, giving it the distinction of being the only state school in the country without any German children.

Reflecting Germany's at-times awkward relationship with its large immigrant communities, the absence of any Germans in the now-famous school has become a thorny political issue ahead of an election expected in September.

While Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's center-left government is proud of how it says it has modernized immigration laws, conservatives criticize the lack of integration and spread of "ghettos" in large cities such as Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg.

"You can live around here and never have to utter a word of German -- there are Turkish shops, Turkish lawyers and Turkish doctors," said Bernd Boettig, principal of the Eberhard Klein school in the down-market Kreuzberg district.

Boettig said he tries to dissuade German parents who want to register their children at his school and said the last four German children left in 2004.

Studies show that German language skills decline once the percentage of those who do not have a command of the language rises above 20 percent in the classroom, Boettig explained.

He says integration hasn't worked.

"For a long time people figured migrant workers and their children would eventually mix with Germans," he said. "But let's face it, integration has failed. We could have steered it 20 or 25 years ago but now I really don't know what can be done."

TRANSLATORS

The language of Goethe and Schiller is rarely heard outside his classrooms. About 80 percent of the pupils are from Turkish families. The remaining 20 percent come from Arab-speaking countries, former Yugoslavia, Vietnam or Africa.

Boettig said it was a fact of life that Kreuzberg has its ethnic diversity, adding it had enriched the city.

The bustling district is famous for its variety of foreign restaurants and night clubs. Its trendy low-cost ethnic neighborhoods are especially popular among German students.

"But once people start having children, they begin to move away," Aliya Dirican said. The Turkish educator offers women German classes at the school.

And Boettig admits he quickly loses patience when parents of pupils come to see him and expect to have a Turkish-language translator provided by the school.

"If the parents don't go through the trouble to learn German, how should the children know any better?" Boettig said.

ECONOMIC MIRACLE

Germany boasts a large population of immigrants that began arriving in the 1960s when the country was in need of laborers. There are 7 million who hold foreign passports in Germany, but an estimated 14 million of the country's 82 million population are immigrants or children of immigrants.

The post-World War II "economic miracle" would not have been possible without the "Gastarbeiter," or guest workers, who came mostly from southern Europe or Turkey.

But because the conservative governments at the time insisted Germany was not a country for immigration, little was done to integrate the foreign workers because no one expected them to settle permanently.

Although millions left Germany, many more have ended up staying in the country.

Germany has been slow to realize that integration does not come naturally and only recently passed new laws mandating that immigrants take integration and language classes.

At the same time, some politicians have tried to capitalize on public fears about an influx of economic migrants in the face of high German unemployment.

GHETTOS?

For some, the Kreuzberg school is proof that immigrants have isolated themselves and the development stokes fears of foreign ghettos developing in German cities.

Boettig, the principal, concedes parts of Kreuzberg are ghettos. He said many lack basic German language skills, which is taught in the classrooms but rarely spoken outside.

"The children speak German with the teachers, but then turn around and speak Turkish with their classmates," he said. "And we all know the best way to master a language is to use it among family and friends."

Berlin's adviser on immigrants, Guenter Piening, said there will be more schools with dwindling numbers of Germans.

"It was foreseeable that sooner or later we would have a school without any German children," Piening said. "I wouldn't rule out that there will be more."

He said schools need to realize they need to adjust to a diverse population in Berlin and cities such as Hamburg and Frankfurt with large immigrant communities.

The key to integration is a proficient knowledge of German, he said. "But of course, Berlin is somewhat cash-strapped," Piening said. "There is only so much you can do."

But the lack of German classmates at Eberhard Klein school does not seem to bother the pupils.

"We have no problems with German pupils, with or without them, it's OK for us," said Ihsan.

[Emerald]

" ...they may have to bring in their kids as translators"

That's the difference. In the States, the kids speak English. In Germany, the kids don't speak German but whatever language their parents speak.

As a consequence, here in Austria, we switched to compulsory language training of immigrants. If they don't attend courses they have to leave Austria. Maybe Germany should consider it, too.

[SQUID]

Put me on. :))

[Osage Orange]

Those kids are only taking desks...regular German kids don't want.

What's the big deal?

[knighthawk]

Okay, I just did.