Say WHAT!?!?!?!?!

Currently Listening To :: The Truth :: Pharoahe Monch, Common, Talib Kweli

I was goin to write something about the link below, but I got lazy, and Riss beat me to the commentary. At first, I was only going to speak about the nerve of these people claiming places based on family ties. They obviously never learned how to spell nepotism in school. Then today, my friend Chris sent me a very interesting message...if only Faan was being printed this month, and Blitz didn't work so far in advance...

_Begin Vent_ 90% Asian? Even if it WERE true, what are they trying to say? Sounds like bitter parents whose sons can't make it past the "selective entry". Here is something that Neil Whitfield wrote, and hopes the Herald will publish. I hope so too, but I'm not holding my breath, so here it is...

As ESL teacher at Sydney Boys High I have been amazed to read in the press recently that our school is "90% Asian".

Since I am the one who compiles the statistics, I can assure readers this is nonsense.

Sydney Boys High is currently 78% "NESB". This means that 78% of the students have someone in the family (as far back as grandparents if they have regular contact) who speaks a language other than English. In Year 7 2002 this figure is 86.6%. It includes 30-40 language and dialect groups. Some Bondi District primary schools go as high as 98%.

Our school draws on Greater Sydney, not just the Bondi District. Students in Year 7 have gained entry through a transparent selection process with no questions asked about socio-economic status or ethnicity. All have sat for the English component of the Selective Schools Test. Since there are about 10,000 boys who speak Chinese in the Greater Sydney area (judging from 1996 Census information) it is not surprising that about 450 of them are currently at Sydney Boys High (40% of the school) especially given the value they and their families place on education and selective schools.

Some students have been speaking English for a comparatively short time and may still need some support at the upper levels of academic English if they are to fulfil their undoubted potential under examination conditions. On the other hand, the top places at the school in HSC English in 2000 and 2002 went to "NESB" students, who also happen to be "Asian".

Many of our students are truly bilingual, an asset to be treasured by them personally and by the nation -- for sound social and economic reasons.

Sydney Boys High has long been a school that attracts migrant families who wish to see their sons prosper in their new land.

Sydney Boys High is 100% Australian, but it is 21st century Australia and that makes all the difference.

Spread this around if you can people..._End Vent_