Class divide 'still playing big part in how children do at school'

Published on Thursday 14 May 2009 22:04

THE social divide in the Scottish education system remains "as powerful as ever" in determining how well a child performs at school, according to a new report.

However, the 20-year study said there had been "substantial" improvements in the exam achievement of working-class pupils over two decades.

The report examined secondary school education from 1985 to 2005 by surveying school-leavers over the period.

It said: "Findings from this study confirm that social class inequalities at age 16 have diminished slightly since 1998 as the attainment of working-class pupils has risen."

Expansion of the Standard grade qualification, which is due to be replaced in 2014, was credited with the reduction in inequality. The Standard grade, for the first time, gave a certificate to all, rather than a simple pass or fail threshold.

However, the report added: "Social class inequalities in attainment at age 18-19 have risen over time, as pupils of higher social class status have increased their levels of advantage in qualifications."

The Scottish Government report echoed a review of Scottish education by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2007. It found that who you were was not as important as the school you attended – because Scottish schools were not strong enough to overcome a deprived social background.

A spokesman for Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, said teachers had long been aware of the major effect of deprivation on a child's school performance. "The report published today highlights the major impact that poverty can have on a young person's educational experience, and this is something that it is difficult for schools to attempt to overcome in isolation," he said.

"This is a long-standing issue that society has yet successfully to address, and only by a concerted and sustained effort to tackle poverty and deprivation can we hope to deliver better life chances for all our young people, both in education and beyond."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The improvements to teaching and learning which the new Curriculum for Excellence will bring should provide more attention to help people realise their full potential.

"We have also launched 16+ Learning Choices this week to ensure that we are aiming our support at the vulnerable young people who need it most."

Meanwhile, the president of Scotland's secondary teachers union is expected to claim that every teacher in Scotland is subsidising the national education budget by 400 unpaid hours every year.

Ann Ballinger will say in her keynote address at the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association today that teachers regularly work more than 60 hours a week despite the teachers agreement stipulating a 35-hour week.

She will point to a survey that has shown some teachers are being forced to take on additional tasks such as extra-curricular classes and Easter revision classes, or face criticisms of incompetence.

She said: "Is anyone surprised that so many teachers approaching the end of their careers are exhausted and desperate to retire? That stress-related illness is on the increase? Or that, faced with a new initiative, we respond by wondering how many extra hours will be squeezed out of us this time?"

Ms Ballinger will also tell the conference in Peebles that the new curriculum, due in all schools next year, is a "lost opportunity" and "little improvement" on the existing system.

She will say the potential removal of external verification of pupil work, and a reduction of the number of exam subjects pupils are able to take, could reduce the quality of Scotland's education system.