Approximately 40,000 to 50,000 Venezuelan students are and will be entering the school year in 2016 alone. What does this mean? What must be done?
Psychologists must be in contact with teachers of Venezuelan students of political asylum to ensure they are receiving everything possible out of their educations. They bring with them many burdens and emotional hardships, which hinders the education as a result of the emotions of fear, anxiety, and hurt being bottled up. The student can easily be mistakenly labeled as "troubled" or "distracted", when the issue is much more severe than that and stems from the hardships of displacement. The relationship between psychologist and teacher is imperative for this reason. The psychologist is able to identify the underlying issues that are much deeper than "lazy", "distracted", "quiet", "depressed", etc. and target those issues to help bring the student to better place both in life and in their education.
The number of new Venezuelan students is staggering. 40-50,000 students who are likely to be in the lower levels of ESOL. This urgently calls for more ESOL teachers in public schools, particularly in South Florida where Venezuelan families have all moved to. More guidance councilors and school psychologists must be hired and readily available to assist such a large number. One per school is not enough. The school board is entering this large amount of students into the school system with ease, even though it is not a simple situation. More learning facilities will eventually need to be made to accommodate the rapidly increasing number.
These families entering the school system should receive more tools by the school system to help their students succeed. For instance, a list of resources should be given to the families. The school or school system should provide information on where to find a computer so the student can complete work if they don't have a computer at home, outside resources to continue to learn English or receive help on English work, etc. Because political asylum is not a planned trip, the school system should ensure that entering Venezuelan students have the tools and are in a healthy mental state to receive the same education other students are receiving.
As the parents come with very little money, they arrive extremely worried about providing book bags, school uniforms, class materials, etc. for their children. Because the number is so large, the school PSTO should keep an inventory of school supplies for the students in extreme situations that leave them unable to afford school supplies.
The number of entering Venezuelans continues to rise rapidly each year, and will only continue to get higher. Steps must be taken.
Psychologists must be in contact with teachers of Venezuelan students of political asylum to ensure they are receiving everything possible out of their educations. They bring with them many burdens and emotional hardships, which hinders the education as a result of the emotions of fear, anxiety, and hurt being bottled up. The student can easily be mistakenly labeled as "troubled" or "distracted", when the issue is much more severe than that and stems from the hardships of displacement. The relationship between psychologist and teacher is imperative for this reason. The psychologist is able to identify the underlying issues that are much deeper than "lazy", "distracted", "quiet", "depressed", etc. and target those issues to help bring the student to better place both in life and in their education.
The number of new Venezuelan students is staggering. 40-50,000 students who are likely to be in the lower levels of ESOL. This urgently calls for more ESOL teachers in public schools, particularly in South Florida where Venezuelan families have all moved to. More guidance councilors and school psychologists must be hired and readily available to assist such a large number. One per school is not enough. The school board is entering this large amount of students into the school system with ease, even though it is not a simple situation. More learning facilities will eventually need to be made to accommodate the rapidly increasing number.
These families entering the school system should receive more tools by the school system to help their students succeed. For instance, a list of resources should be given to the families. The school or school system should provide information on where to find a computer so the student can complete work if they don't have a computer at home, outside resources to continue to learn English or receive help on English work, etc. Because political asylum is not a planned trip, the school system should ensure that entering Venezuelan students have the tools and are in a healthy mental state to receive the same education other students are receiving.
As the parents come with very little money, they arrive extremely worried about providing book bags, school uniforms, class materials, etc. for their children. Because the number is so large, the school PSTO should keep an inventory of school supplies for the students in extreme situations that leave them unable to afford school supplies.
The number of entering Venezuelans continues to rise rapidly each year, and will only continue to get higher. Steps must be taken.