Why is Arabic compulsory in British Schools?

Or create one or two more classes so that the level being taught is inline with the students' ability; high, mid and beginner levels.

Most international schools the world over have compulsory local language classes.

At: QDCLover. Can't use that rationale if you fail Arabic, though!

At: Frenchies. I believe it is a good thing that Arabic is taught here. The Cambridge School used to have basic and regular Arabic as separate levels. Now the school is telling me that from this academic year (Sep 2012 onwards) the SEC has told them to drop basic Arabic and will not allow them to teach Arabic in English - i.e. my two English-speaking children have to somehow figure out what is being taught about Arabic IN Arabic.

Has this been verified by anyone? I am very concerned because my kids now have no interest in the subject any more. You say private Arabic teachers are cheap - do you know of any and approximately how much they charge?

That may not be so... I have two kids who are doing poorly in Arabic and have been told that if they don't pass the subject they will have to repeat their current grades next year.

In a British school...

At UkEngQatar: do you have a link or any reference to a decision by the SEC regarding teaching Arabic to western students?

lol...

Absolutely.....indeed who does??

Doha College learn Arabic or should I say....teach Arabic..or Arabic is taught there....

@ nazliambreen i've enquired in 2 other schools. they are Doha British school and Park House school. in DBS there is no Arabic for non-arabics, and in Park House, they are having separate Arabic clases for arabic and non arabic speakers. i'm going 2morrow to submit form at DBS and in park House forms will be available from 29th.

@qdcl and what about arabic

@richa yes

@QDCL: LOL ... thats the best answer. But they may take you in on account of forgery.

Don't worry if you fail your Religious Education exam. Simply ignore the result and assign yourself an A grade, telling anyone who objects that it is your solemn belief that you passed and not to question your faith.

nazliambreen are u talking about The Cambridge School?

I dont know about other british schools whether they are facing the same problem or not

Yes frenchie and kiwi all the non arab parents have the same problem and its already discussed many times with the principal directly but the answer they heve is that its by the orders of SEC ,although i think they r just trying to avoid the hassle of appointing teachers who are bilingual

My daughters are studying there for three years and i was very happy with the progress they made in arabic when they were taught with english translation, but this decision from the school management just stopped their learning process in arabic and in islamic studies too(which i m more worried about because before the religious studies were taught in english but now all in arabic so they are just playing in the class with zero learning)

The reason from SEC is that if they can learn english in english why they cannot learn arabic in arabic

So you do not have an issue with Arabic being made compulsory but rather with the level being too high for non-Arabs with very basic knowledge of Arabic.

Is your daughter the only student facing this problem or are there any others facing it too because in this case you and other parents can go and make a collective complaint to the school's administration so that they can bring down the level of Arabic being taught.

thanks nazliambreen, you have correctly put my concerns into words. this is my real worry, my elder daughter is in grade 4 and she joined here last year so she was just learning the alphabets and simple words and suddenly she was plunged into the sea of advanced Arabic. just imagine her state!

well nobody is against learning Arabic here ,as kiwi said learning is learning

the concern is about sudden change in curriculum of arabic so that the children who merely started learning making words from alphabets are now suddendly supposed to make ,rememember and reproduce complicated sentences without much help from the teachers in coping with this change.

and if asked they just say it is imposed by SEC.

you r right frenchie that we can hire arabic tutuor but dont you think that everybody cannot afford this extra payment keeping in view the high cost of the british schools and plus this will be an extra burden for child after school

well for those schools that dont have arabic this academic year, will have to start it from next academic year unless the SEC changes its rules. Indian schools got the break only because the directive came in the middle of the academic year.

I'm really happy that my kids are learning Arabic. Learning is learning after all. And if no one has noticed, take a look out the window, we're in the Middle East! Sheesha!

Q.E.D....:)

time to pack your smelly bag

Funny, Balerina, didn't you have issues with me using words inappropriately a couple of days ago?

You literally went bananas over my use of "kid" instead of "child". Well, we expect you to use appropriate English terms in your sentences too!

Tit fot tat ;)

Whatever.......who gives a feck really.......

LOL..... uneducated Poms...

No I didn't develop the British curriculum........so whether I think it is right or wrong is immaterial really isn't it????

Depends whether one is the teacher or the student I spose........

Well because its compulsory.Historically British curriculum schools learn other languages!!I learnt French since I was 7 at school and that was in England!! I hardly think they will be learning quantum physics in Arabic at school so it should be ok!

I completely agree with u HGL. And moreover here I'm talking about our kids, not us. It's true that we all have to keep shifting between different countries, so is it just and fair to burden our children so much? And I'm talking about British Schools and not Arabic schools. If its an Arabic school then it is understood but why in a British school? As I said earlier, Indian schools don't hv such compulsion and so are American schools. So why only British schools?

The major downside of compulsory Arabic in non-Arab schools is this:

1. It either lengthens the school day for the kids or they have to take time away from other subjects.

2. There are incredibly few teachers who have the qualifications to teach Arabic in primary schools. Most of the so-called Arabic teachers have little or no proper education training for young children. And, for obvious reasons, this is bad, and the main reason children attend these classes for years without learning much.

In terms of why it is happening--

Too many local children are growing up functionally illiterate in Arabic. The concern is not about the expats, who have no real stake in Qatar's future or desire to be a long-term part of it. However, the SEC does not want Qatari children to be given extra work or singled out.

Technically the law requires children learn Arabic and Qatari history. Religious instruction is to be made available but it is not compulsory for students.

So I plan to live here for 2 years and I learn arabic...move to China for 2 years and learn mandarin...again may be move to Thailand and learn Thai...what am I... a machine. End of the day what good can the language do when I have to correspond with the outer world in english, use computers (and everything else related to it) in English being the common business language. Wouldnt it be better if I sharpened my skills on this common language and stayed with my native language without a third language being imposed.

What is the issue here ? I took German at school up to O' Levels.

The kids are living / growing up in a foreign country, so why not let them learn a little of the local language ?

Yes, Thelonius. I believe the OP is making a mountain out of a molehill here specifically looking for a school that does not have Arabic as mandatory subject for her child. And it will be her loss once she realises that knowing Arabic would have made things easier for her child.

I believe it's a great opportunity as many have pointed out above and you should not pass it up.

If the level is too high for your child, then maybe you can hire a private Arabic teacher on the side. There are very cheap ones available over here.

And Arabic or no Arabic, is it that much of a deal?

400 million people speak Arabic in this world, (when they are not killing each other) so that's a pretty good advantage to have by learning Arabic. It's better than learning French or German or even Thai.

Yes, you are right lost. Children will probably forget about all these different languages they were introduced to later on in life but at least they're there safely stored in their subconscious so that any time they wish to go back to learning one of them when adult, they will find it much easier as it will simply be retreived from their subconscious.

Other hand am greatly disappointed my children do not have Arabic classes. As someone else mentioned we are in an Arabic country and it should be mandatory the children here learn the native language.

I too was afraid that learning too many languages at once would overwhelm them, but our paediatrician back home explained to us that young children are like sponges when it comes to languages and to throw as many as we can their way.

Parents can learn arabic at fanar and teach there children arabic if they are interested

It was insisted by the Supreme Council of Education to have these subjects in all schools at least one term per year.

@ Frenchies: if i can take names here then the name of the school is The Cambridge School. even Park House school also has arabic compulsory. i'm now trying in Doha British School.

You still haven't told us what school this is you're complaining about.

No British or international schools I know of imposes Arabic on any non-Arab unwilling to learn the language.

Its better to get arabic subjects than history subject, I dont think you came to this country just for your children education, maybe if they know arabic they will be paid more than you recieved today.

Your in an Arabic country dude,this is like an Arab asking why their kids have to learn English in a western country. Follow Thelionus's advice, go back to India and your problem is solved.

as i said, 'almost' all schools, not every. i'm also trying in other schools for the next academic year. and can i take names(of the school) here? @angellinaballerina: yes it is good to learn local language, but u might not be knowing that Arabic is a very difficult language, and to expect the kids to learn something so alien to them is quite unfair.

actually everything was hunky-dory till last year when the school was offering basic arabic for us and the numbers were also not included in the exam results. but this year they converted basic arabic to advanced arabic without informing the parents. so now we are in a fix.

Because it is is always good to learn another language.......what's so bad about that?? I couldn't wish anything better than my daughter to learn the language of the country she is living in!!!!

i don't believe all schools are forcing this, best to search around. friend has a son in grade 6, doesn't have to take.

The Arabs are tying to hold back the tide of cultural invasion by insisting on Arabic. However like the cliffs of the seas it will eventually crumble and all you will have achieved is delaying the inevitable.

What school are you referring to in particular? To my knowledge, Arabic is an optional subject for non-Arabs at British and international schools.

What school is this that is imposing Arabic on even the non-Arabs?