What is the Education Group?

Following the Annual General Meeting of ATA in February 2005, we set up the Education Group because we wanted to do something about the low educational attainment of Turkish speaking children in the UK. Show children what options could lie ahead of them and how they can be turned into reality with hard work and perseverance.

The objective of the group is to do as much as we can to improve the educational attainment of Turkish speaking students in the UK. Considering that the seeds of education are planted very early in a child’s life, we aim to target students as young at as young an age as possible (mainly in primary and secondary education). This will then lead naturally into our objective of assisting older students with their career choices through our career programme.

Our approach will be to focus on practical projects and target the students and their families directly – rather than organise, say, policy seminars. Or in more general terms, we aim to target the causes of the problem rather than its symptoms. The causes are many but include at the very least, a general alienation of Turkish speaking community from the rest of the society, the lack of language skills in the family and lack of good communication between families and schools that comes with it, low understanding by families of the British education system, lack of mentors and role models for students especially for there in higher education etc. We will be targeting our projects to these causes.

The Education Group consists of Suna Akartuna, Mesude Burgess, Nedret McKinley, Ece Ozdemiroglu and Yasemin Sekerkiran.

What have we done so far?  

We spent the first three months undertaking research: to understand the reasons for the situation through making contacts with education and ethnic community officers in Haringey and Islington and education experts. This process has firmed up our approach to focus on practical projects and target pupils and their families directly. Or in more general terms, we aim to target the causes of the problem rather than its symptoms. The causes are many but include at the very least, a general alienation of Turkish speaking community from the rest of the society, the lack of language skills within the family and the lack of good communication between such families and their schools that comes with it, a lack of understanding of the British education system by many families and a lack of mentors and role models for students.

We looked at many options and judged their feasibility on the basis of the time, resources and experience of our group, our pool of volunteers and the needs of the target groups. At the end and having made contact with the Turkish Language, Culture and Education Consortium (the Consortium) which is the association of the Turkish supplementary schools, we set off with the Role Modelling Project.

The project was launched on 2nd June at one of the occasional gatherings of ATA members and friends. During the months that followed, we recruited 40 volunteers. We provided them with information about the project and organized an introduction and training meeting for them (with the help of the Turkish Society at the London School of Economics) on 20th October. At the same time, we also engaged with The Consortium and, through them, the supplementary Turkish schools.

We implemented the pilot phase of the project in November 2005. On the first two Saturdays of the month, 10 volunteers in total went to Eltham Turkish School (Eltham) to meet the pupils from pre-GCSE to A-level classes to talk about their professions. On the last two Saturdays of the month, 10 volunteers in total went to Ali Riza Degirmencioglu Turkish School (Wood Green) to do the same there. The so-called 'professions workshops' involved volunteers introducing themselves, talking about their education, difficulties they faced, and their professions and answered pupils' questions. The feedback from pupils, parents and school management was positive. Further workshops are planned for 2006 in other supplementary and mainstream schools (starting with one at Enfield Turkish School in March) and also one-to-one mentoring with some of the pupils in the two schools we've already visited.

In addition to the role modeling project, through our networking with other groups and our experts and volunteers working in the education project, we were instrumental in the appointment of a Turk as a Governor at a school in Hackney. In January 2006 we were invited to join the Hackney Education Forum which aims to address the causes of the educational under-achievement of Turkish speaking pupils. The next meeting of the Forum is on the 9th of March which representatives of the education group will attend.

Join us to help with the management of the project and/or to become a volunteer to visit the schools and show children what options they have. Those who have participated in the pilot phase have greatly enjoyed meeting with pupils and sharing their experiences. Perhaps you have a role model who inspires and encourages you. Why not return the favour by becoming a role model to somebody else?

Having started to work on this at the end of March 2005, we are still at the preparatory stage of our project. We strongly believe that cooperation with others with the same aims will increase our chances of success.

Therefore, we have made contacts with education, parental and community officers in two London boroughs: Haringey and Islington.  We have also been in touch with the Aim Higher mentoring project in Islington Council and the Education Consortium of Turkish schools in London.  

www.turkishschools.co.uk

What are the potential projects?

Devising projects is achieving a balance between what is needed and a few ATA organisers and volunteering members and friends can do.  To start with we have the following ideas, but none of these is firmed up yet. We would like your views on these ideas and any others you can suggest.

Considering the different time commitments of potential volunteers, we can look at the potential projects in terms of their time requirements:

    ·         Weekdays: two possible projects you can volunteer for are identified so far:  

o      A crucial factor in increasing educational attainment is to encourage our children to read. Schools are always grateful for volunteers who can spend an hour or so a week with a class to read books with students.

o      Another crucial factor is to assist families in understanding the importance of education for the future of their children and how to manoeuvre within the British school system. Attending parent-school or parent-teacher assessment meetings with the families, translating from English and being a contact point when necessary will provide great assistance in this regard for both parents and schools.  

·         Weekend:

o      Students near to taking the GCSEs may require out-of-school tuition on certain subjects. A project is being planned to provide free tutorials on subjects like mathematics, basic science, and others on Saturday afternoons at weekend Turkish schools. You can be a volunteer tutor at these classes for an hour or so once a week.

 In addition to these education focused projects, we also have two potential mentoring projects:  

1. One of these already exists in Islington council and it is called Aim Higher. The project brings together a mentor and a mentee for a couple or so hours a week in order for both to work on the educational and social issues the mentee may face. The continuity of a mentor’s commitment is crucial here and mentors will be trained prior to meeting their mentees. You can be a volunteer for Aim Higher through ATA. A training session is set for 2^nd of July and hence all volunteers have to get in touch with us in good time before then.

2. The second mentoring project is planned in consultation with Turkish Language, Culture and Education Consortium of the UK which manages the Turkish weekend schools. They would like to benefit from our members’ professional and academic experiences in broadening their students’ horizons and providing them with guidance in their choice of career. Mentoring will involve an initial face-to-face introduction of the mentor and the mentee but will continue over the phone and occasional in person meetings. Therefore, it does not require too much time commitment from the volunteering mentors. The project aims to support those students who may not be able to find career support in their immediate environment. The age group of the mentees will be 15-18. The project is planned for launch in mid-October 2005 and we need all the time till then to prepare for it. So, if you are interested in becoming a mentor or require further information, please get in touch with us as soon as possible.

Whose help is needed?

Everyone’s is the short answer. You do not need to be an education professional. Your desire to contribute to the Group’s objective and the ability to dedicate of your time are the only necessary elements. As the projects develop, they will also include training by the relevant partners of each project, when such training is necessary. The only thing you need to provide is a police security check which is compulsory for all adults working with children. This check costs £10-30 and is generally payable by the individual and you will be advised about this in due course.

What is next?

We will continue our collaboration with other voluntary organisations, council and Turkish schools. This will not only help us understand the English education system better but also will enable us to provide more effective support in the areas where we are needed.

We would very much like to hear from those who would like to volunteer or have views that may benefit the project – in the first instance especially regarding volunteering for the two mentoring projects mentioned above. Note the deadlines given above. And please do get in touch, we can’t do this project without you!

Contact details

PO BOX 2389, London W1A 2RH; education@ata-uk.org; www.ata-uk.org.uk