Excerpt:
A Catholic school in Lommel hired a Turkish-speaking teacher to teach all the Turkish pre-schoolers. "This way the children who haven't learned a word of Dutch at home feel safer," says director Danny Huijsmans. Professors for language development and Flemish minister of Education Pascal Smet encourage the approach.
The teacher came by request of the Turkish community in Lommel. They wanted the option for their children to be accepted in their mother tongue. Therefore they suggested looking and paying for a Turkish teacher. The Sint-Jan elementary school, with about 20 Turkish preschoolers, thinks it's a good idea. Huijsmans says that Most Turkish preschoolers don't know a word of Dutch when they get to school. Because they don't understand a lot of things, they fall behind in their studies, and this follows them throughout their school-years. They hope to eliminate this by helping them in the beginning in their mother-tongue.