By . Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 12:13 EST, 9 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:17 EST, 9 May 2012 . Eastern European immigrants complain that British schools are failing to challenge their children, a survey has found. Some take trips home to see medical specialists because they regard the NHS as too slow to provide treatment. The concerns of parents from Poland and other Eastern European countries were recorded in a paper published yesterday by the Government’s Economic and Social Research Council. Learning curve: Eastern European immigrants complain that British schools are failing to challenge their children, a survey has found . Academics aimed to investigate discrimination suffered by foreign children but ended in recommending extra efforts by schools to ‘ensure that migrant children are challenged academically.’ Some Eastern European parents were worried that children were working below their academic level. Others were taking weekend trips to their home countries to get medical or dental treatment for their children instead of waiting months in Britain. The findings were based on detailed interviews with 57 children and families from Poland and the other seven countries which joined the European Union in 2004. Since then as many as a million and a half workers from the new EU countries are estimated to have arrived in Britain to work. Returning home: Academics found that Polish and Eastern European families were making regular trips from their homes in Scotland to see doctors and dentists in their native countries . The research suggests that despite their comparative poverty, Eastern European countries that were communist until the 1990s provide superior public services to some available in Britain. According to the At Home Abroad report, ‘parents and children expressed high educational aspirations. On occasions, parents felt children were working below their ability in certain subjects.’ The report quoted a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl who said: ‘I want to be a dentist, so I know already what subjects I need, but sometimes the teachers think I wouldn’t understand things. But I’ve done much harder things back home, for example in maths and science.’ It said that parents worried that because their children are still learning English, teachers will think they are slow at all academic subjects. Academics also found that Polish and Eastern European families were making regular trips from their homes in Scotland to see doctors and dentists in their native countries. Different standards: A 12-year-old Bulgarian girl said she had to wait so long to see a specialist her mum decided to take a flight to Bulgaria and go and see the eye doctor . ‘This was often due to the perception that services were too expensive, might not be in their entitlement, or were different or worse than in their own country,’ their report said. An 11-year-old Polish girl said: ‘We went to see a dentist, and they said it’s four months wait, so my mum just said we’ll go to Poland for the weekend and we got all the dental work done there.’ A Polish mother told researchers: ‘My child has asthma and they said you need to wait two months for a specialist. “So I just decided to take a flight to Poland and see the doctor we know there.’ And a 12-year-old Bulgarian girl said: ‘We had to wait to see a specialist so long, so my mum decided to take a flight to Bulgaria and go and see the eye doctor who treated me there first, it was quicker.’ All 57 children in the survey lived in Scotland, where NHS waiting times are generally shorter than those in England. Dr Daniela Sime of the University of Strathclyde said: ‘This study gave the young participants a voice and recognised that their experiences are shared. It also gave them an opportunity to offer ideas on how provision can be improved to support migrant families with children.’
New paper suggests that Eastern Europeans are taking trips home to see medical specialists .
Eastern European parents worried that children are working below their academic level .
Bulgarian girl flew home for treatment because of four month UK waiting list .
By . Steve Doughty, Social Affairs Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 12:13 EST, 9 May 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 12:17 EST, 9 May 2012 . Eastern European immigrants complain that British schools are failing to challenge their children, a survey has found. Some take trips home to see medical specialists because they regard the NHS as too slow to provide treatment. The concerns of parents from Poland and other Eastern European countries were recorded in a paper published yesterday by the Government’s Economic and Social Research Council. Learning curve: Eastern European immigrants complain that British schools are failing to challenge their children, a survey has found . Academics aimed to investigate discrimination suffered by foreign children but ended in recommending extra efforts by schools to ‘ensure that migrant children are challenged academically.’ Some Eastern European parents were worried that children were working below their academic level. Others were taking weekend trips to their home countries to get medical or dental treatment for their children instead of waiting months in Britain. The findings were based on detailed interviews with 57 children and families from Poland and the other seven countries which joined the European Union in 2004. Since then as many as a million and a half workers from the new EU countries are estimated to have arrived in Britain to work. Returning home: Academics found that Polish and Eastern European families were making regular trips from their homes in Scotland to see doctors and dentists in their native countries . The research suggests that despite their comparative poverty, Eastern European countries that were communist until the 1990s provide superior public services to some available in Britain. According to the At Home Abroad report, ‘parents and children expressed high educational aspirations. On occasions, parents felt children were working below their ability in certain subjects.’ The report quoted a 15-year-old Lithuanian girl who said: ‘I want to be a dentist, so I know already what subjects I need, but sometimes the teachers think I wouldn’t understand things. But I’ve done much harder things back home, for example in maths and science.’ It said that parents worried that because their children are still learning English, teachers will think they are slow at all academic subjects. Academics also found that Polish and Eastern European families were making regular trips from their homes in Scotland to see doctors and dentists in their native countries. Different standards: A 12-year-old Bulgarian girl said she had to wait so long to see a specialist her mum decided to take a flight to Bulgaria and go and see the eye doctor . ‘This was often due to the perception that services were too expensive, might not be in their entitlement, or were different or worse than in their own country,’ their report said. An 11-year-old Polish girl said: ‘We went to see a dentist, and they said it’s four months wait, so my mum just said we’ll go to Poland for the weekend and we got all the dental work done there.’ A Polish mother told researchers: ‘My child has asthma and they said you need to wait two months for a specialist. “So I just decided to take a flight to Poland and see the doctor we know there.’ And a 12-year-old Bulgarian girl said: ‘We had to wait to see a specialist so long, so my mum decided to take a flight to Bulgaria and go and see the eye doctor who treated me there first, it was quicker.’ All 57 children in the survey lived in Scotland, where NHS waiting times are generally shorter than those in England. Dr Daniela Sime of the University of Strathclyde said: ‘This study gave the young participants a voice and recognised that their experiences are shared. It also gave them an opportunity to offer ideas on how provision can be improved to support migrant families with children.’
found. Some take trips home to see medical academically.’ Some Eastern European parents were worried that children were working below their academic level. Others were taking weekend trips treatment for their children instead of waiting because their children are still learning