Immigrant children should go first

Bless their pointy Norwegian heads, from Aftenposten:

Immigrant children should be allowed to go to the front of the waiting lists for day care spots, and should get free care if their parents are strapped for cash.

While failed promises to provide day care for all remains a sensitive political issue, Rita Kumar, government adviser on immigration and integration, adds a new element to the debate, newspaper Dagsavisen reports.

Kumar is the head of KIM (The Contact Committee for Immigrants and the Authorities) a government-appointed advisory body made up of representatives from immigrant organizations, political parties and relevant governmental agencies and ministries.

Plenty of documentation exists indicating that early integration and language education is decisive for how immigrant children manage in school and society, while Norway's education system has had poor reviews in this respect from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development).

OK, so the development aspect might be a reason for preferential treatment, but I have the feeling this just more of Norwegians being Norwegian -- being nice. And of course their good intentions will be for naught.

And this is why the pointy head remark:

Kumar admits that one problem is that minority parents often opt against day care, and so she is willing to discuss some form of obligatory day care.

And that's just crazy. If we're talking about Islamic immigrants, the last thing you want to do is influence their children in a way goes against the parents' will. Really, I think you might have to say that about all families. But this is the culture that honor-kills its daughters for wearing jeans; I'd advise caution. Lots of it.