Changing attitudes to race and colour must begin in our schools, believes Finian McGrath, headmaster at St Mary's National School in Dublin. Of the 110 pupils in this school in the north inner-city, 18 are from such countries as Zaire, Nigeria, Angola, Sierra Leone and Bulgaria. In March it was one of 14 schools in the State to receive a refugee support teacher.
"Their parents are a mixture of asylum seekers and refugees," says McGrath. "The staff see the kids add a positive new dimension to the classes, particularly in geography class." The other children, he continues, are pretty "unfazed" by them. "They all just get on with it." Sport, says McGrath, brings kids together like nothing else. "Eighteen months ago we had a `World Cup' league, where we had teams for Angola, Russia, Nigeria, Zaire, Bulgaria, Ireland and others. It was very popular and everyone, even the parents, were talking about it." The support teacher, Greg Kerr, takes several pupils at a time, acting as a remedial-cum-English teacher, using pictures and word games and general conversation to get them on a par with their Irish classmates. "Academically," he says, "they are absolutely brilliant, really buzzed up to learn, and especially to learn English." The majority speak French as their first language.
Watching five eight-year-old boys - some Irish, some from further afield - around one large table, one is struck by how utterly normal the scene is. One from Sierra Leone is very shy and withdrawn. Another from Bulgaria is almost crawling over the desk to be the one that answers the questions. When asked what they want to do when they "grow up" they answer variously "be a policeman", "help the handicapped" or "play football". They are shy, however, when asked by a strange face who they are, where they are from and how they like Ireland.
"A lot will be very wary of telling strangers about themselves," explains Kerr. "They may well have been told by their parents not to talk about how they got here etc., especially if they are still awaiting decisions on their asylum applications."
Though the school is delighted to have the support teacher, it has had little direction from the Department of Education on curriculum or texts. "I'm formulating it pretty much as I go along," says Kerr. And McGrath has had to send to England for books that portray non-white children. He believes all schools should be using such textbooks to present a "normal world where all nationalities are living together".
As we talk, eight-year-old Michael from Dublin comes in with classmate Alan, from Bulgaria. Both dressed in track-suit and runners, they have been out playing football. "Who's this?" I ask Michael. Sliding an arm over casually over Alan's shoulder, he replies: "He's my best mate."
