Educational Disadvantage by Area

There was an interesting if flawed piece in the Sunday Indo today about collage education and the disparity between various areas. Now the flaws in the article are so glaring and of a numerical nature I have to say I doubt the stats in the piece. But they probably are in the ball park. But the idea of the article that people from certain areas do worse then others is probably bag on the nose. But why?

Firstly the error in the profile part of the piece it quotes the typical rent in Galway as being €370 per month. I really have to wonder where this €370 a month accommodation is because it certainly is not around the Collage. A quick look at the bible of accommodation in Galway the Galway Advertiser. I note the rent in Dun na Coiribe is around €250pcm, Dun Na Coiribe is a few minutes from the collage and is nice accommodation as well. So where this €370 per month figure comes from I have no idea. Same too with the Limerick figure of €370 which would be broadly similar if not cheaper then the Galway figure.

Basically what the article was about that there is a correlation between your postcode /region and your likelihood of educational achievement. And this leads on to the argument that class determines your likelihood of going to collage.

In Ireland if you want to learn you can there is very little stopping you. You can go all the way to a doctorate in physics spending comparable less then you would in other countries to do the same thing and while the cost of books etc is a hinderance it is not a block.  All that is required is the will to do it. But the reason that there is a difference in difference areas is often due to the difference in will. This will is installed at a very young age pre-secondary school even the very first few years of schooling and it comes from the parents and locality.

If you live in a poor deprived area where there is little signs of achievement or hope of achievement then it is hard to instil in your kids the notion that if they stick at school they will do fine. Looking at the neighbourhoods and seeing the drug dealers as being the only ones successful and that everyone else is working in a menial job it is hard to instil in children a belief that they can have more. When you live in a well to do area and there is many models of success going to collage is just considered the natural option. When you live in rural Ireland there is not as many distractions from study as there are in the city so you just study hard and collage offers you the chance to move to the big smoke.

To many people from well to do backgrounds the chance of being a “poor student” appeals to people. Living in a dodgy flat living off noodles and beans on toast has been I am sure the subject of many a D4 dinner party. When you come from a poor background why would you want to change being a “poor kid” to being a “poor student”. Where instead you can get a job in a factory and start making some money. In the long run it would be better for you to go to collage but what do you care for the long run the short run is hard enough.

How to solve these problems is and should be the key focus of all parties. Solve this and in many way inequality, health, the economy, crime etc etc will solve themselves. But how to solve them is the question.

One of my hobby horse’s is home work clubs. Many children simply lack the quiet environment to study or are too busy minding younger siblings to study. Having home work clubs where children can be given a quiet environment to study is a must. This has to be made mandatory we can’t let outside pressures interfere with study time. This also has to be done from the earliest of ages.

As for free third level education it does work and will bring more disadvantaged kids to collage. The problem is by the end of secondary school the will to go is lost. (I have written about this before)

It can be to easy to think that it is lack of funding that is causing education disadvantage and throwing money at the problem will solve it. But I don’t think it is the main factor. I think the will and belief in the attainability of collage is the biggest factor that needs to be addressed. The problems with education in this country will be solved not when millions have been spent on equipping schools in the likes of Ballymun but when a kid from Ballymun is asked “what do you want to be when you grow up” can reply “an engineer” without anyone thinking it is unusual.