The road to hell…

‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions,’ they say. Greenland abounds in good intentions. Mine included.

Last year, the Government of Greenland decided that English should be taught from year one in all schools, instead of from year four, as it was at that time. Great idea. English is the international language. English literacy would be a huge advantage to young Greenlanders. I was, and am, really interested in the idea. I’d been teaching my son and his friend English for a year. So I contacted the Minstry of Education to find out what was happening and if there was anything I could offer to help: perhaps some teaching materials, or some time in class to support teachers. The Ministry arranged for me to attend a meeting with the education department at the Council, and the teachers and school principals involved in English teaching. As the meeting convened, all looked to me. I had been keen to learn what they had planned. But it became rapidly clear that they were waiting to hear what I had planned. I launched in anyway, raised some ideas and asked about what they were currently doing; the school year had just begun and English classes should be already underway. The teachers told me that although English was now required teaching, there were no resources and no curriculum. It was up to the teachers to figure it out. Quickly the meeting switched from English to Danish because the teachers – teachers responsible for English teaching – were not fluent enough to continue the conversation in English.

I was not a teacher. I was just winging it and looking for an opportunity to help. And although these were enthusiastic teachers, they were now put in the position – by the Government – of teaching kids a language that they couldn’t speak. It was the blind leading the blind leading the blind…

In the new coalition agreement, just released, the Government announced a policy of making English, not Danish, the first second language in Greenland. Again, not a bad idea. But there are some catches.

One. There are few teachers in Greenland who have strong enough English to teach it.

Two. Without a high standard of Danish literacy, Greenlandic students cannot take advantage of the free university education offered in Denmark, and very few could afford to pay for it elsewhere. Danish literacy is already poor. According to Statistics Greenland, less than 2% of Greenlandic kids go to university. A focus on English at the expense of Danish would mean a drop in this already small number of university-educated Greenlanders.

I would love to see Greenlandic kids get a strong grasp of English – when the resources are there to support them. But if it’s pushed through in the short term, there will be a generation of kids with poor English and poor Danish. In the drive to move to English, who is it we’re really considering? And who should we be?