Is Enough Being Done To Address The Issue Of Disadvantaged Education

The educational issue I will be discussing in this essay is, ‘Is enough being done to address the issue of disadvantaged children within the UK education system?’. Article 26 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “Everyone has the right to education.” (UN General Assembly, 1948). This right is one of the most important in our society. Education affects not just those attending school but has further consequences for many aspects of society such as employment. In the UK, there is compulsory education and children are given free education up to the age of 16. Beyond this, students can progress onto higher education based on merit and circumstance. The national curriculum ensures that the core content of what is taught within the

One article in the Education Journal (2016) discusses and puts emphasis on the importance of schools doing more to prepare young people for work. Within the article, it provides an insight from HM Chief Inspector and former head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw. When discussing the importance of practical experience of how businesses work “[he] stressed that [this] was even more important for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. He said that one of the ways to bridge the social divide would be by ensuring that all young people had equal access to work-related knowledge that would guide and prepare them for the next stage of their lives.” This brings up a key point that disadvantaged children may not necessarily have the knowledge about businesses and how they work therefore may be at a disadvantage when leaving school to seek employment. The article discusses this further and talks about how personal networks and connections which can be argued are critical in business, may be absent from disadvantaged children lives. “Business involvement in some of the schools had relied too heavily on the personal networks of teachers and parents and some had arisen solely because the pupils’ parents had been well connected, which could potentially result in disadvantaged pupils missing out.” The qualitative approach used in the form of an interview gives an informed and knowledgeable perspective from an individual who was the Chief Inspector of Schools in