Education System in UK: Issues and Inequalities - Essay Example

? s School Education System in UK: Issues and Inequalities The educational system in UK reflects inequalities on various levels. Many studies and researches have been conducted on the issue, and the statistics indicate a shocking result as far as the unfair treatment of the system is concerned. The education system of UK has many issues and reflects inequalities based on the gender, class, race and poverty. Right from the primary level education, the system is constructed in such a way that the boys naturally lag behind in the process and as the educational levels proceed, the gap also increases simultaneously. Similarly, bullying is also one of the most striking problems which the children are facing in UK. Many children suffering with cognitive or physical disabilities are usually targeted in schools, along with those who belong from non-white backgrounds, and are humiliated to a great extent. Ethnic issues also pose a huge threat when it comes to the educational system, as the accounts of stereotyping all over UK are quite widespread. However, poverty seems to be the most problematic out of all the other issues, as poverty is directly linked with the unfair educational opportunities. Also, this pattern keeps repeating over generations and poses various implications over the system. In this context, Anushka (2010) in an article for “The Guardian” states that, “The statistics are stark: boys are slipping behind girls in 11 out of 13 learning categories by the age of five; children from the poorest families are half as likely to achieve good GCSEs; black pupils of Caribbean descent are three times more likely to be excluded; four out of five young people with special needs are being bullied; between a quarter and a third of Muslim women have no qualifications.”. Thus, these issues should be resolved in time to deal with the inequalities as the gap keeps widening with time unless a saturation point is reached. The paper aims at addressing all the aspects of inequalities in the UK educational system in detail. Starting off with the gender inequalities being propelled by the educational system, the statistics in this regard are striking as mentioned above. According to the recent reports, the boys usually lag behind the girls in reasoning and logic, and with time they also find themselves stuck with their social as well as the emotional development. For this reason, at the age of five, 53% of the boys qualify for the average writing standards, however the ratio for girls have been found to cross 70% (Attewell 2010). This poses various long term threats for the future of education for the boys as they even score low on their GSCE score which is deterrence in their way for acquiring university education. According to the experts, this owes much to the general educational system followed in the schools. For instance, neat handwriting is considered to be a standard for success in the schools, and the girls are usually better off when it comes to writing. Similarly, the behavioral attitudes of the girls are also more controlled as compared to the boys. For instance, the girls can sit still for a longer periods of time as compared to boys, and when an instructor judges you over this standard girls will qualify and most of the boys don`t. Thus, the yardsticks for measuring success for students should be transformed and designed in such a way that the bias must be eliminated. A report published in Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) this year reveals striking accounts of bullying at schools in the UK. Evidences of bullying around campus, in classrooms, lobbies, even playgrounds have been reported. According to the statistics, between 2004 to 2003, about two thirds of the students have claimed that they have been bullied at some point during their school years. This percentage is further found to be risen if the children were suffering from any kind of a disorder (Great Britain Dept. 2004). This research has even indicated various accounts of homophobic bullying as well as cyber space bullying. Alongside, children with a different religions considered to belong from a minority sect have also been targeted. Moreover, children suffering from Autism and other cognitive diseases where it becomes difficult to respond to bullying have also found to be dealing with similar problems. Also, sometimes this behavior exceeds beyond to even criminal activity which has driven some activists towards filing a bill against criminal behaviors at school. Bullying is thus a huge issue for the students as it poses various long term threats for the students with issues. The schools however don`t even consider bullying as an offense, thus fail to take any action. Also, these children are merely burden for their families if they are found suffering from any problems. This leads towards the concievement of some serious emotional issues with these children, which affects their GSCE scores, thus they find it difficult to qualify for well renowned universities. Further on, race has also been a huge issue in the UK education system badly affecting those belonging from different races. Stereotyping has been an issue for the students in UK for a long time now, and the society is still found to be struggling with the issues. In fact, the problem has been multiplied and even complicated over the years as the non-white population is increasing. Earlier, the only for the people in UK regarding race was the distinction between the white and the black race, however the brown skin color is now becoming an issue for the students. People from all kinds of backgrounds and from all over the world are now found in UK, out of which the Asians are the most dominant. In schools, there is a clear discrimination between the races, which owes much to the performance issues found amongst these children. The gap keeps increasing and eventually these children find it difficult to get enrolled for university education. The stats indicating the permanent exclusions rate depict the true picture in this sense reflecting the exact account of the inequalities prevailing in UK. However, there are still some exceptions, for instance the Chinese girls from poor backgrounds are found to do well in their studies. Same is the case with a few Bangladeshi and Pakistani students; however the problem still remains an issue throughout UK. (Great Britain dept. 1983) According to Hirsch (2007), the effects of poverty on education and vice versa are striking. He demonstrates the intensity of the issue by stating that as soon as the children reach three years of age, the difference between the children from a poor background to that of a rich background is found to be nine months in terms of school readiness. This gap is expected to increase with time, and research shows what in secondary school education poor children are likely to be about 14 years behind when it comes to the difference in their intellectual development. It is further found that those children who are bad at studies in during their course of school education, these students are expected to give poor performance in their secondary education as well. Also, with research it has been concluded that those student with parents in manual jobs are less likely to qualify for university education. On the other hand, those parents into non-manual job are found to raise children who often attend universities, and the different is about two and a half time, which is a considerably large proportion. This brings us to the conclusion that those children who belong to a poor family background are found to lag behind in their education, which means that the trend goes down to generations and the trend continues. This relationship between poverty and educational equalities reflect flaws in the system. For instance, only one third of those children from poor backgrounds qualify for free meals during school. This has found to reflect further in the performance of the children from poor backgrounds during their course of study. Also, this trend continues to persist across generations, which is quite striking as indicated by various reports since it will eventually saturate the system to huge extent. Also, there are various other social pressures associated with poverty which owes much to the bad performance in schools. For instance, poor children have less access to health care facilities thus they fail to undergo quality treatment if they suffer from any disease. Also, schooling involves much prohibitive expenditure which the parents find quite difficult to fund. Moreover, research indicates that these children also feel that the college environment is quite oppressive and it creates emotional issues within these individuals. Thus, these social pressures further create inequalities which the system fails to address, thus causing problems not only for a child belonging to a poor background but also to the future generations. (Great Britain dept. 1993) Thus, various instances and accounts reflect different patterns relevant with the issues and inequalities prevailing in the system. These inequalities seem to be associated with the gender, race, class and predominantly the financial status of these children. Firstly, boys are less likely to succeed during school as compared to the girls as the system favors the female gender more. Similarly, those belonging to non-white backgrounds and minority religions are also facing issues, along with those belonging from poor background. When compared with the global trends being dominant throughout the world, UK seems to reflect the general patterns of discriminations prevailing around the globe. Though boys are generally more likely to score better than girls in general and succeed for university education, this trend contradicts to some extend with the trend going on in Britain. Often in the Asian states, or other slightly backward states, men are considered to be the forerunners of the families, thus they are encouraged more to pursue education. Also, in America, boys tend to get higher education with a higher rate than that of women according to the research. However, those with poor family backgrounds usually suffer when it comes to education as the cost of education globally is high. However, in a few European states welfare in terms of education is being promoted where poverty is not the major factor contributing towards the inequalities when it comes to education. Religion and culture, however, is prevalent throughout the world leading towards negative stereotyping towards minorities effecting their educational developments. Thus, generally, Britain reflects the issues and inequalities prevailing in the education system globally. (Attewell 2010) Works Cited Assessment of government’s 2010 spending review. Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2012. Hirsch, Donald. Chicken and Egg: child poverty and educational inequalities. (2007) CPAG policy briefing , London: CPAG. Asthana, Anushka. "Britain's Divided Schools: A Disturbing Portrait of Inequality." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 20 May 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/oct/10/britains-divided-school-system-report. ATTEWELL, P. A., & NEWMAN, K. S. (2010). Growing gaps: educational inequality around the world. New York, Oxford University Press. GREAT BRITAIN. (1993). Ethnic minorities and the education system: a review of the research findings from the early 1980s to the present day. [London], Employment Department Group. Great Britain. 1983. The Educational system of England and Wales. London: Dept. of Education and Science. GREAT BRITAIN. (2004). Fair admissions to higher education: recommendations for good practice. Annesley, Dept. for Education and Skills Publications. Read More