Is educational inequality Leading to Educational Failure In The UK
Although the UK are renowned for their high levels of educational standards, it is even lesser known that the lower levels, specifically in lower income areas, of education is becoming a severe problem that threatens the overall standard of education in the country.
The UK’s “top down” policy was designed to create a sense of educational equality; however, it was woefully unsuccessful, due to the top applicants only applying to higher ranking Secondary education job offers. Many schools in poorer regions of the UK struggle to reach the same levels of education that are apparent in more affluent regions. Is this caused by the teachers or the Ministry? The answer is no. The “top down” policy has limited the importance of the role of parents; therefore the problem here lies with the parents. Educational success lies not only with what can be done in the classroom, but what can be done at home. Since less than 15 percent of a child’s time is spent at school; it is the role of the parents to continue their children’s education after the school bell rings. The support and guidance by parents especially in these lower-income schools can make the difference between success and failure.
The national government also needs to play a significant role. There are very few incentives to help lower-income schools in the UK, and this needs to change in order to create equality in education. Although they are aware of the need for educational equality, very little has been done to counteract this problem.
The fact that there are schools that get the support they need to provide a better service to the students and the community seems to hold out the belief that it is the inequalities that are in part responsible for the failures. Some school will have the support from the community at large others won’t. Thus resources become scarce in schools with little or no support and this leads to eminent student failures.
The schools themselves must encourage educational betterment, and this does not require a large sum of money. Teachers and headmasters alike must work together to encourage disadvantaged students to work harder and succeed in school. This could be done in many ways, ranging from grade postings in the school corridors to entice students to do better, or even offering extra assistance to those that have fallen behind.