President of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) Belinda Wilson expressed support yesterday for the removal of unregularized students from the public school system.
Wilson said teachers are willing to assist the Department of Immigration in identifying undocumented children.
Last week, Immigration Director Jack Thompson expressed the need for the Bahamas to "flush out" undocumented foreign nationals enrolled in the public school system in order to prevent illegal immigrants from "absorbing our resources."
Wilson said non-English speaking, unregularized students negatively impact the strategies teachers in the public school system use and pose "many problems for the day to day instruction, successful completion of lessons, examination results and more."
While the success of second generation Haitian-Bahamians in the public school system has been praised, the performance of those whose first language is creole is questionable, according to Wilson, who added that those concerns go largely unnoticed.
"There is much concern from educators and the public about examination results and the academic performance of students in the public school system," she said. "However, the many challenges that plague our system are often downplayed or even ignored."
She also underscored the importance of documenting students who enter the public school system in order to reduce the number of unregularized students being enrolled, though there is an inalienable right to education in the Bahamas.
Public school officials cannot refuse to register illegal immigrants, as according to Bahamian law, all children residing in the Bahamas have the right to an education.
"The Bahamas Union of Teachers is pleased that the Department of Immigration is cognizant of the large number of students who attend public schools who are offsprings of illegal immigrants," Wilson said.
"Although education is free for all in public schools in the Bahamas and access to education cannot be denied, there is a need for the compilation of accurate information and data.
"This data will give us the true numbers of non-Bahamian students in the public school system. The data will also assist with staffing of schools, curriculum development and revision and the organization of academic and remedial instruction.
"The Department of Immigration can utilize information to assist them in identifying and locating the whereabouts of illegal immigrants."
While she advocates the removal of unregularized students from the public school system, Wilson  warned against the manner in which the exercise is to be carried out.
She said authorities must "bear in mind that the roundups cannot be conducted in the schools and that the illegal immigrants must be treated humanely."
Thompson stressed last week that no roundups will be conducted in schools.
Wilson contended that the data garnered from the documentation of unregularized students in the school system will assist the Department of Immigration with obtaining accurate information for processing applications for permanent residency and citizenship.
"The union urges the director of immigration to meet with the Department of Education, administrators, teachers, union and other stakeholders so that the department's plan can be clearly articulated,"  Wilson said.
"This is a very complex situation that cannot be resolved overnight. There must be a strategic plan with short, medium and long term solutions."
 

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