Yahoo Finance Evening Standard Comment: Make education central to the “Build Back Better” agenda
The education select committee’s report into white working-class education attainment is timely and welcome. This is an issue that has rumbled on for far too long and as such this thorough review is an important opportunity to deliver change.
The committee notes that poorer white children underachieve, driven by “systematic neglect” and “muddled” policy thinking. The reference to terms such as “white privilege” will inevitably draw headlines, and language of course matters greatly.
Yet the report itself makes clear that the confluence of factors that drive educational disadvantage are multifaceted and complex.
The most compelling recommendation in the report is that of a network of family hubs to be introduced across the country to boost parental engagement and mitigate the effects of multi-generational disadvantage.
These hubs could drive a holistic approach to education, particularly in the early years, bringing together health and education services, providing key contacts for families and joined-up support.
Further emphasis on career progression and targeted funding to address attainment gaps via the Pupil Premium must also be embraced.
The report itself rightly recognises that much educational disadvantage relates to class and often regional inequalities, rather than being solely about ethnicity. Working-class or disadvantaged groups are multi-ethnic, and racial inequities remain across our society.
The committee also exposes a point about the Government’s levelling-up agenda. It is often framed in geographical terms: North versus South, city versus town, when it should really be framed by background and access to opportunity.
The report concludes that disadvantaged white students fall behind their peers “at every stage of education.” As all students recover from the disruption of the pandemic, the Government must study this report and make education central to its “Build Back Better” agenda.
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