Schools in Berlin with a "German-only" language rule accused of discrimination

[Harold F. Schiffman]

German language rule upsets Turks
By Kate Connolly in Berlin

(Filed: 26/01/2006)

Schools in Berlin with a "German-only" language rule and large numbers of
foreign pupils have been accused of discrimination.


Six secondary schools have banned all languages except German in the
classroom, playground and on school trips to speed integration. The Union
of Teachers voted this week to expand the policy nationally. In some
schools up to 90 per cent of the pupils are non-German. The rule has been
criticised by some politicians and Turkish groups who say it discriminates
against the pupils and violates the constitution.

The Turkish Union, which represents Germany's largest ethnic minority,
said the policy would create resentment and should be scrapped. "The
learning and use of German is very important but by forbidding something
you only achieve the opposite effect to the one you wanted,"  said Eren
nsal, its spokesman. "Children should not be forbidden from talking in
their mother tongue."

Claudia Roth, the leader of the Green Party, said the policy would hamper
integration. "Integration is not going to happen if you impose such rules
on people's break-times," she said. But the headmistress of the Herbert
Hoover school, in Wedding, north Berlin, which was the first to adopt the
rule, said her school attracted Turkish parents precisely because of the
policy. "Those who want jobs need to be able to speak German well," Jutta
Steinkamp said.

Those pupils heard speaking their own language were "politely
reprimanded", she said. But no one was punished unless they used their
mother tongues to "aggressively attack pupils or teachers". The pupils
defended the German-only policy yesterday. "We need German,"  said a
16-year-old Turkish girl. "We all come from a variety of different
countries, and we speak German when we're all together, even if your own
language slips out from time to time."