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Report on Education Inequality & Disadvantage and Barriers to Education

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Report on Education Inequality & Disadvantage and Barriers to Education Tithe an Oireachtais An Comhchoiste um Oideachas agus Scileanna Tuarascáil maidir le míchothromacht & míbhuntáiste Oideachais agus Bacainní ar Oideachas Bealtaine 2019 Houses of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills Report on Education inequality & disadvantage and Barriers to Education May 2019 32/ES/24 Chairman’s Foreword .............................................................................................................. 3 Rapporteur’s Foreword .......................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 5 Engagement with Stakeholders ...................................................................................... 7 Contribution of the witnesses ........................................................................................... 8 Conclusions of the Joint Committee ..........................................................................20 Recommendations of the Joint Committee ..........................................................24 Appendices ....................................................................................................................................30 Appendix 1 – Members of the Joint Committee ...........................................30 Appendix 2 – Orders of Reference .........................................................................31 Appendix 3 – Submissions to the Joint Committee ..................................34 2 Chairman’s Foreword The Committee is aware that some research suggests that low educational attainment is directly related to issues such as homelessness, addiction, unemployment, poverty and poor health. The research also suggests that socio-economic factors may contribute to people not having equal access to education thereby denying them the opportunity to break free of such issues. In its examination of this topic, the Committee was particularly interested in hearing from those ‘on the ground’ and was keen to explore a number of areas, including the impact of educational disadvantage on the individual and society. As Chair, I agreed that it was essential for this topic to form part of the Committee’s Work Programme and a thorough examination of it should be undertaken. As a result, the Committee invited written submissions and held two meetings to cover this complex matter. In addition, I was very happy for Senator Lynn Ruane to act as Rapporteur in this examination and wish to acknowledge the significant effort she has put into bringing forward this Report. _______________________ Fiona O’Loughlin T.D. Chairman May 2019 3 Rapporteur’s Foreword The aim of this examination was to focus on solutions to the issue of education inequality and disadvantage. Some areas covered in this examination include the current DEIS model and if it can be improved; if an education system can be created which increases participation in post-secondary education, especially among groups with traditionally low rates of participation. Also considered was the benefits that equal access to education can provide particularly among groups who experience high instances of poverty, addiction and other social issues especially those who live in areas of deprivation. This report aims to highlight the areas of improvement which are necessary to increase access routes to further education for early school leavers, young people in the justice system and groups most at risk of educational disadvantage. It may also highlight the reasons why young people drop out or do not complete courses or transition from one level to another resulting in them being ill- equipped to pursue any career. I want to pay tribute to all those who work in all areas of the education sector and to the stakeholders who made a significant contribution to this process and gave of their valuable time. Senator Lynn Ruane (IND) Rapporteur 4 Introduction Educational disadvantage is defined as “...the impediments to education arising from social or economic disadvantage which prevent students from deriving appropriate benefit from education in schools” or as “a situation whereby individuals in society derive less benefit from the education system than their peers”1. In the Republic of Ireland, social inequality is registered and reproduced at all levels of the education system. Notwithstanding State commitments to ‘free’ education, school costs for primary and secondary school children are often three to four times more than the public supports provided, with one in ten parents compelled to go into debt to afford them2. In Ireland, research by the Combat Poverty Agency 3 shows that over 1,000 children each year do not transfer from primary to secondary school, some 4,500 young people stop attending school before they complete their Junior Certificate and 1 in 5 children leave secondary school without completing their Leaving Certificate 4 . At the end of primary school, children from higher professional backgrounds had a mean literacy score of 43 (out of a possible 50), those from semi or un-skilled manual backgrounds had a score of 28, and those in households where neither parent was employed had a mean score of 25 5 . Taking into account involuntary part-time work, and workers marginally attached to the labour market, Ireland has one of the largest rates of youth who are 1 Education Act, 1998 2 Barnardos, 2016 3http://www.combatpoverty.ie/publications/povertybriefings/Briefing14_Educ ationalDisadvantage_2003.pdf 4 https://www.barnardos.ie/changeachildslife- 2010/issues/educational- disadvantage.html 5 Smyth and McCoy, 2009: 7 5 neither in employment nor in education 6 . There are Dublin communities where progression to Higher Education has remained below 20% despite 20 years of investment in activities to raise the educational aspirations and outcomes for children from these communities7. There are notable regional inequalities with over one in five persons (21.9%) in Donegal, aged 15 and over, not being educated beyond primary level, the highest for any county, followed by Monaghan (18.0%), Cavan (17.8%), Longford (17.7%), Mayo (17.4%), Wexford (16.6%). Research indicates that participation in high quality education has benefits not only for young people themselves but also for taxpayers and society. These benefits include better job prospects and better health outcomes. Research also shows that issues such as homelessness, addiction, unemployment, poverty and poor health are linked to socio-economic factors, which derive directly, and indirectly from education disadvantage8 9 10. In light of this information, the Committee decided to include an examination of educational inequality in its 2018 Work Programme. On 6th of February 2018 witnesses were invited to attend a meeting of the Joint Committee to discuss the topic of education inequality and disadvantage. 6 OECD Economic Survey 2013, cited in Lynch, 2014. 7 HEA, 2014 8 https://academic.oup.com/sf/article/94/2/505/2583794 9 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07347324.2015.982463 10http://www.combatpoverty.ie/publications/povertybriefings/Briefing14_Edu cationalDisadvantage_2003.pdf 6 Engagement with Stakeholders At its meeting on 6th February 2018, the Committee heard from the following stakeholders: Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan Academic, Maynooth University Dr. John Bissett Community Worker, Canal Communities Local Drugs & Alcohol Task Force Ms. Niamh Quinn Senior Youth Officer, Foróige Ms. Elizabeth Waters Chief Executive Officer (CEO), An Cosán Ms. Deirdre Malone Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) Ms. Sinead Dooley Irish Rural Link (IRL) Ms. Caitriona O’Brien Principal Officer, Department of Education & Skills Ms. Olive McGovern Principal Officer, Department of Children & Youth Affairs At its meeting on 29th May 2018, the Committee heard from the following stakeholders: Professor Kathleen Lynch University College Dublin (UCD) Mr. Patrick Nevin Tallaght Traveller Community Development Project Ms. Valerie Maher One Family Ms. Ann Heelan Association for Higher Education Access & Disability (AHEAD) Mr. Andreas Mokake Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative Ms. Niamh Randall Simon Communities Ireland Mr. Shane Rooney Adult Education Guidance Association of Ireland (AEGAI) Mr. Wayne Dignam Care Leavers’ Network Ireland Mr. Shane Griffin Care Leavers’ Network Ireland Mr. Richard Dolan Principal Officer, Department of Education and Skills (DES) 7 Contribution of the witnesses In the Committee’s first engagement with witnesses on 6th February 2018, a number of important issues were identified and recommendations were put to the Committee for consideration. A theme which emerged from the evidence given by all witnesses was the importance of the whole community when considering education inequality rather than only focussing on the school system. The witnesses emphasised the intersectional impact that class, community, family, policy and school have on educational opportunities and the necessity for all of these to be considered in any reform process. The contribution from the witnesses described in this section highlights these complexities and emphasises the need for multi-faceted considerations. Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, Lecturer in the Turn to Teaching Project in the National University of Ireland Maynooth noted that educational inequality has a significant impact upon the capacity of a person to live a ‘good’ life. However, the current provisions
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