Sir, – We welcome the Government’s decision to take in a significant number of refugees. We are aware that many schools around the country will soon be receiving students from refugee families, some of whom will be traumatised and all of whom will be displaced and adapting to a very different culture and a new language.
We recognise and acknowledge the key role that schools and teachers can play in supporting children and young people in adjusting to a new country and different surroundings.
In the midst of the inevitable uncertainty and insecurity that migration brings, it is often the school that offers respite and stability, especially in the early stages of arrival and adjustment.
Further, while recognising the acute nature of the current humanitarian crisis and the importance of responding to the immediate needs of refugees, we believe it is essential that the underlying causes of the unfolding disaster are interrogated, in order that the geopolitical context for this enormous human migration is examined and understood. We are endeavouring to do exactly this with our own cohorts of student teachers. Unless such an examination takes place and the underpinning issues are addressed, this mass displacement of human beings will continue unabated, and thousands more people will undergo the trauma and misery of leaving their homes and countries behind. – Yours, etc,
Dr BARBARA O’TOOLE,
LIZZIE DOWNES,
Dr FINTAN McCUTCHEON,
Dr MARIAN FARRELLY,
Dr RORY McDAID,
Marino Institute
of Education;
BRIAN RUANE,
ROWAN OBERMAN,
SUSAN PIKE,
St Patrick’s College, DCU;
ROSALIND DUKE,
Church of Ireland
College of Education;
BRIAN TUBBERT,
AOIFE TITLEY,
LAURA THORNTON,
THERESE HEGARTY,
Dr PATRICIA KENNON,
BERNADETTE WRYNN,
TRÍONA STOKES,
PHYLLIS CLEGG,
KATHERINE LALLY,
SEAMIE O’NEILL,
Froebel Department,
Maynooth University.