DF: ban foreign languages in schools

It's fine by Dansk Folkeparti (DF) if Isam wants say hello to Said in the schoolyard. As long as he doesn't do it in Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, or any other foreign language.

The party will propose legislation that would ban conversation in foreign languages in schools, both during recess and during class, according to daily newspaper Politiken.

- It is important in order to prevent bullying. We have examples from schools where students have employed foreign languages to bully and malign others. We want to help ensure that Arabic or Urdu, or any other language than Danish, is not spoken. In Danish municipal schools, the language is Danish, says spokesman on education affairs for Dansk Folkeparti, Marlene Harpsøe.

Detention for language violation
According to Dansk Folkeparti, enforcing the no foreign languages rule should be up to teachers in individual schools.

Sanctions for students who violate the ban could be detention or rebukes in parent-teacher consultations, according to the Dansk Folkeparti proposal.

In addition to the ban on foreign languages, the Dansk Folkeparti proposal on school values also includes a ban on gender-segregated classes, and demands for greater distribution of students with immigrant background on different schools.

Minister opposes ban
Minister for Education Bertel Haarder maintains that municipalities and schools have autonomy of decision.

- This is definitely not something we should decide on a nation-wide basis. We should be supporting school management responsibility, not weakening it. I am not minister for headscarves, nor for shower curtains, pork in school lunches, invitations to parent-teacher conferences, or what students are allowed say in schoolyards. And I am going to maintain that perspective, says Bertel Haarder.

Translated by Martin Lamberth