Local immigrants find barriers to early childhood development services

Like most mothers in Canada, Elham Nazemi only wants the best for her children. But Nazemi and her husband are recent immigrants to Canada. That means that finding the best programs for their children can be a real challenge, according to a recent study.

In 2006, Nazemi, her husband, and their then-five-year-old daughter, immigrated to Canada from Iran. “We are skilled workers but I wanted to find a better situation and better opportunities for my kids,” Nazemi told the Straight.

A few months later, Nazemi gave birth to a second girl, who the couple named Anaheed. And so Nazemi set out in search of early-childhood-development (ECD) programs that would ensure her new baby girl was exposed to Canadian culture while still retaining ties to her Persian heritage.

“The older one can make friends no problem because she is in school,” Nazemi said. “But the younger one, I should make some friends for her.”

At SUCCESS’s Coquitlam location, Nazemi found what she was looking for.

For the last year and half, Nazemi and Anaheed have attended classes that introduce the baby girl to the English language, Canadian values, and western culture. And because the programs are designed for Farsi speakers and other ethnic groups, both Nazemi and her daughter have made friends with other immigrants from Iran and maintained cultural ties to Nazemi’s country of birth.

“They had a family group program, and I went there and I was really happy to find them because I could make some new friends for me and for my daughter,” she said.

Nazemi noted how much she appreciated the programs’ little touches, such as its teaching of traditional English nursery rhymes and children’s songs.

“It is very good here because it is multicultural,” she added. “You can find the Korean community, the Iranian, and the Chinese together. It is very good here and I have really liked it.”

Unfortunately, Nazemi’s experience has been better than many other families who have immigrated to Canada.

A three-year research project conducted by the Human Early Learning Partnership, UBC, and SUCCESS, found significant barriers to immigrants’ access to early-childhood-development services in the Tri-Cities (Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody).

Kelly Ng, a co-investigator for the study and program director for SUCCESS Family and Youth Services, told the Straight that a primary finding of the study was that different cultures can hold different interpretations of what values should be ingrained in a child, and that those differences are not reflected in ECD programs in the Lower Mainland.

For example, Ng said, Chinese parents expressed concern about a lack of emphasis on hierarchy and respect for elders. “Most parents, when we talked to them, said, ”˜In Canada, sometimes kids are too free....Where is the family?’” Ng explained.

Another key finding was that communication barriers can severely hinder parents’ efforts to enroll and continue with ECD programs.

“Some parents, when they go to some groups in some drop-in centers and it is conducted in English, they find it very difficult to mix with the group,” Ng explained. “Sometimes, it causes misunderstandings. Some of them even think that they are being discriminated against.”

Ng said that this can result in parents abandoning potentially important programs after just one session.

Perhaps even more troubling is a third finding of the study. The report states, “ECD services and programs are in general not responsive to immigrant families with special needs children.”

Ng explained that in many countries, children with special needs can be a source of shame for a family. But in Canada, there exists support groups and many programs for children with special needs. Ng said that a proactive communication strategy is required to make parents aware that such programs exist.

Awareness is a shortcoming Nazemi also cited when speaking to the Straight. She suggested that pamphlets could be distributed in maternity wards so that other mothers could learn of the programs that she enjoys so much.

She beamed with pride when talking about how her daughter’s English is beginning to progress.

“In the home, I always speak Farsi,” she said. “How could Anaheed know that there is another language? But in this program, they always sing English songs. So she will be very alert about the different language and that there are different languages for communication.”

The report—called Bridging Immigrants and Refugees With ECD Services: Partnership Research in the Development of an Effective Service Model—was funded by United Way of the Lower Mainland. It saw 113 parents from Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Farsi speaking communities participate in 13 focus groups and seven individual or group interviews.

You can follow Travis Lupick on Twitter at twitter.com/tlupick.