Catalan schools integrate newcomers
President Montilla visited a new centre for foreign children?s´ educational integration. These centres are the first step for integration when a student coming from abroad joins a school in Catalonia.
Barcelona (CNA). - The President of Catalonia, José Montilla, visited this week an educational centre in Cornellà de Llobregat that specialises in dealing with young students who have just arrived from foreign countries. During the visit and after the recent controversy involving full-face veils in Catalonia, Montilla made it clear that nowadays is not the most appropriate moment to decide on a burqa ban in public spaces.
The centre opened six months ago and hosts pupils aged from 8 to 16 years old. They attend 4 hours of lessons every morning and in the afternoon they carry out some activities in the city. The aim of the integration centres is to prepare newcomers to study within the Catalan educational system. When Montilla visited the school, the students were talking about the Corpus Christi festivity as a way of learning both the Catalan language and traditions. Most of the students are from Morocco and South America.
The centre is for students and their families
The Cornellà centre is the only integration school in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The other four are located in Vic and Reus. Courses are not just for students but also for parents, who can take 10 hour courses on learning how to adapt into Catalan society.
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