Fair Education Alliance launched to tackle learning inequality

An alliance of teachers’ organisations, children’s charities and employers have launched a campaign to tackle the issues of inequality in British Schools.

The goal of the campaign is to lessen the difference in maths and literacy levels between children from wealthy backgrounds and children from poor backgrounds. This initiative will also try to address the regional inequalities that exist across the nation.

There are twenty-five organisations which are involved in the project. All argue such a divide is “a waste of national talent and unfair”. They believe that lessening the disparity between the rich and the poor is critical for the economy and must happen sooner rather than later.

The groups involved in this landmark campaign have issued a statement declaring that there has been “a collective failure” in ending inequality in schools. Reports reveal that the situation has deteriorated in recent years.

One of the main issues campaign will target is the lower level of results which come from primary schools in poor areas compared to schools in wealthier regions.

A recent survey shows primary school children from poor areas in the capital perform much better than pupils from poor areas in other districts.

Looking further ahead, the alliance aims to offer more socially equal access to universities and persuade young people of all backgrounds to continue onto higher education.

Joanna Byrne