After-school clubs help ethnic minority children

Apr 24 2008 by Moira Sharkey, Western Mail

AN after-school network is rewriting the future of a generation of Welsh pupils most at risk of never achieving their full potential.

In Cardiff and Swansea, the clubs for ethnic minority children combine schoolwork with creative activities to boost confidence and self-belief and ensure these pupils do not become another statistic.

The chief executive of the All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema) Naz Malik said the rest of Wales can learn from the success of these clubs as they provide a solution to the under-achievement of black and ethnic minority pupils.

The success of these clubs was celebrated at the fourth annual Somali Education Awards ceremony in Cardiff, hosted by Fitzalan High School. Seventy students earned public recognition for achieving top marks in Sats, GCSE, A-levels or even degrees. First Minister Rhodri Morgan presented awards to some of the high achievers in front of more than 300 guests who included pupils’ families and friends as well as MPs, AMs and local councillors.

The clubs cater for children in primary and secondary schools and demand is so great in Cardiff and Swansea that there is a waiting list.

They were set up five years ago in Cardiff and a year later in Swansea with support from Awema after an appeal by Somali mothers who were concerned that their children were not doing well at school. At that time research for the Welsh Assembly Government showed that the 15,000 ethnic minority pupils in Wales have lower attainment at all levels of education. And Somali children have the lowest attainment level among black and ethnic minorities.

Factors for under- achievement include the language barrier, special needs. the length of time these pupils have spent in the UK and the incidences of racism they have faced.

Among those women who campaigned for more support for the community was Asha Ali, a teacher at Fitzalan “I realised that I could not help my children with all of their homework,” she said. “There were subjects that I had not done.

“I am a graduate but was struggling to give them the support they needed. And there were other parents who had the language barrier on top of this. Our children were not doing as well as they should have been.”

From this vision has grown a series of clubs including three in the capital and around 100 children supported each year. Their success is ensuring they have a new-found confidence, self-belief and determination to go further in education and get the job they want. They are also proving to be role-models for younger pupils.

Among those receiving awards was Hiba Miyir, 15, who said: “I have attended the clubs and I know they made a real difference and helped me achieve level 7 in maths and level 6 in English and science in my Sats. I would encourage any younger students to take up the opportunity to get the extra help.” Abdi Ismail, 15, said: “I want to be an entrepreneur when I leave school. I know now that the better I do at school the better I will do in the world of work.”

And 15-year-old Abubasid Ayanleh, another success story from Fitzalan, said: “I was one of the first to attend the club in Grangetown. It was on a Sunday morning and I always wanted to go. If there was something I did not understand at school I did not need to worry as I got the help I needed at the club and I did not fall behind.”

Dr George Karani, of the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, who helped set up the Cardiff clubs, said: “Being involved in these clubs is without question the most rewarding work I have ever done. Recently some of the pupils from the third cohort of students have gone on to college and other are now at university.

“The students really want to be there. They come of their own volition after school and weekends. They are desperate keen to learn and it is inspiring to see them grow in confidence, self-belief and achieve their full potential.”

Mr Malik, of Awema, who has co-ordinated the Swansea club, said what has been learned from the pilots is that it is important that these clubs don’t just concentre on schoolwork but ensure children have fun and tackle challenges they might not usually experience including writing poetry. He believes there is a “desperate and urgent need” for more clubs across Wales.

The Somali Education Foundation is also supported by charities such as Safer Wales to develop the clubs in Cardiff. But they need more help and are seeking volunteers.