Battling with bureaucracy - one boy's struggle to learn a language

It's one of those simple stories that you hear about time after time in many countries around the world, when rules and regulations are followed "to the letter" no matter how nonsensical they might appear.

This one comes to you from France - the country of "liberty, equality and fraternity" and a modern, forward-thinking democracy, which prides itself on both its mix of national traditions and cultural diversity.

It involves an eight-year-old boy living in the in the town of Vitry-sur-Seine just east of the French capital, who wanted to learn Arabic but was old that he couldn't because.....he wasn't an Arab.

Martin Auxerre wanted to take a special course in Arabic available in some schools as part of the "enseignement des langues et cultures d’origine" or Elco scheme.

But when the principal of the school discovered that he had already attended one class Martin was told that he would have to stop.

"You don't have the right to learn it because you're not an Arab," was the explanation the headmistress gave the boy last month, according to a report in the national daily newspaper Le Parisien.

Apparently, even though he was eager to continue lessons, as far as the school and the local education authority were concerned, the issue was not up for discussion.

The course Martin wanted to follow was part of the Elco scheme which runs language lessons for around 80,000 children of north African immigrants living in this country.

Its aim is to help them learn and perfect their skill and understanding of Arabic, and the teachers are funded by the embassies of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. Courses can take place both during the school day and afterwards.

Martin's interest in learning the language reportedly came from the fact that he has a childminder of Tunisian origin, and his father, Christophe Auxerre, told the paper that his son had been wanting to learn the language properly for the past year.

When told that his son would not be allowed to continue attending classes, Auxerre contacted the cultural section of the Algerian embassy just to check exactly what the regulations were, and whether the head teacher had been within her rights to say "no" to his son.

He was informed that not only did the embassy not understand why his son was not being allowed to take lessons but that "the course was open to all children as long as there were places available."

Armed with such a reassurance, Auxerre then got in touch with the local education authority to argue his case, but was told that as far as it was concerned the regulations quite clearly stipulated that Elco courses were only open to the children of immigrants and therefore his son wasn't eligible.

In other words, the head teacher had been quite right to tell Martin that he would no longer be able to attend the course.

"I found that rule ridiculous," Auxerre said. "If my son had taken the place of another child I would have understood. But that wasn't the case," he added.

"We're talking here about an eight-year-old boy who is eager and asking to learn a foreign language, and what happens? The system blocks him from learning."

Still refusing to bow to what appeared to him to be non-sensical bureaucracy, Auxerre and his wife accompanied their son to his second lesson and the school authorities eventually agreed that "exceptionally" Martin would be allowed to continue the course.

In this instance then, one father's battle with bureaucracy has won the day, and Martin will be allowed to continue learning the language he has set his heart on.

But that didn't stop Auxerre taking the case to The French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission (Halde) and the country's médiateur de la République (Ombudsman)

Such action shouldn't be necessary in the future though for parents of children in a similar position, according to René Macron, a high level civil servant from the ministry of education.

"Agreements have been signed with Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria to open up Arabic courses to everyone as long as there are place available, " he told Le Parisien.

The change to the regulations under which Elco operates are due to come into effect in September 2009.