A helping hand for local kids
As an arts student, it has often occurred to me that I'm not really qualified to do anything. Never was this more apparent during the year I spent in France. Trying to get a job when I couldn't even communicate as competently as the natives was virtually impossible. Without good language skills, the only jobs available to me were boring, unskilled, low paid ones. It was in many ways a relief to return to England where I could feel vaguely intelligent and competent again.
But what about those who never go back to their native country? Thousands of immigrants and refugees move to England every year and face the challenge of making friends, finding jobs and speaking another language that they may never have even heard before their arrival.
Large class sizes in our schools mean the children of immigrant families with poor English skills can easily fall behind in their studies, and end up leaving school with few qualifications, making it very difficult for them to find interesting, skilled, well-paid jobs. Poor English may also make it difficult for them to integrate into the community, leading to divisions that can develop into racial tensions.
Jacari is one Oxford-based society which tries to improve this situation. The idea is that kids aged five to fifteen from families whosefirst language is not English are paired with university students, who spend one hour a week with these children in their homes, helping them with their schoolwork, taking an interest in their progress. This hour can make all the difference to a child who may feel confused and marginalised in the classroom, and whose parents' English is often too limited for them to be able to help their children with homework.
"Genuinely one of the highlights of my week", is how Tom Pugh, the President of Jacari, describes his visits.
It really is a mutually beneficial exercise: Oxford can seem like a strange, bubble world, with a disproportionate number of white middle-class folk. Jacari opens your eyes to the wider community away from the city centre, to a multi-cultural and often poverty-stricken population. It helps put that weekly essay crisis in perspective for a start.
Only 100 university students currently take part in this programme, but there is a desperate need for more volunteers - there are over 150 children on the waiting list at the moment. As students here, we recognise the importance of education, and have been pretty lucky in ours; it's a shame if more of us can't spare an hour a week to help someone get a bit further on with theirs.
Jacari: Home teaching for local children from ethnic minorities. users.ox.ac.uk/~jacari
Focus: Promotes personal development of mentally and physically disabled adults. focus-charity.co.uk
MCAB (Magdalen College Aid to the Balkans): Sends groups of volunteers to work in Bulgaria and Bosnia. info@mcab.org.uk
Nightline: A listening, information and support service run by students for students. users.ox.ac.uk/~nightln
Oxford University Resources for the Blind: Creates digital and audio books for visually impaired students. email:ourb@bodley.ox.ac.uk
The Gatehouse: Provides food, shelter and company to Oxford's homeless. gatehouse.org
Travelaid: Sends groups to work abroad on a variety of projects during the summer. travelaid.org.uk
Learning Together: Places students in local schools to work alongside teachers in the classroom. ltoxford.org.uk
Keen:Pairs student coaches with young people with special needs. users.ox.ac.uk/~keen
15th Jan 2004