From Birmingham to Brent
Recent analysis from the University and College Union showed that one in nine people in the UK have no qualifications. In some places – Glasgow North East and Birmingham Hodge Hill – as many as one in three people are without qualifications, and yet in others it is remarkably different. In Brent North for instance, less than 2 per cent of people have no qualifications.
It is no surprise to find that, despite the best efforts of schools, children from poor backgrounds do not fare as well in school as the children whose families are comfortably off. Making a difference means working both with children and their parents. Parents and other family members are a child’s first and most important educators, so a family environment that encourages and enjoys learning will make a difference to a child’s attitude in school, their engagement with learning activities and ultimately their educational success. On the other hand, a family environment where parents and family members have not enjoyed school or have felt unsuccessful in learning, will transmit this onto the children. Teachers are skilled in raising aspirations of the children in their classroom, but without reinforcement from home, this is sadly making little difference.
All parents want the best for their children but many are limited by their own experiences. Therefore efforts to engage adults in education – to reach out to those whose experiences of school were negative and have limited aspirations for their own lives – are critical to encourage them to give education a second chance and open doors that have previously seemed slammed shut. We cannot raise aspirations in children without working with their families and if we don’t do this we are destined to have a generation of children who see under-achievement, unemployment or low-paid, local jobs as their future.
Everyone should be able to have a second chance. And if that does not work then a third and a fourth at least. Some adult learners have been traumatised by their experiences of school. They have been told from a very early age that they are ‘thick’, ‘stupid’ and will ‘never amount to anything in life’. However, the transformation that a first qualification can give someone creates a love of learning that they then pass on – to colleagues, friends, parents and grandparents. Their only regret often being that they had not ‘done this sooner’. If we want to address the cycle of under-attainment of qualifications, particularly in the poorest and most deprived constituencies, then access to first steps learning is vital.
