Below is an interesting article from the The Equality Trust which argues that ‘People with more education earn more, pay more taxes, are more productive, and happier.’ However, I would argue that to gain a good education you need a social support system that both encourages education and supports the time it takes, if you take into account college and university.
Children do better at school in more equal societies.
Controversially, the article goes on to suggest that ‘Well educated people contribute more to society; they’re also more likely to volunteer and to vote.’ Again, we can challenge this by asking how do they define a contribute to society? If they mean a financial contribution then perhaps they are correct but what about other forms of contribution?
Finally, the article highlights that ‘Although good school systems make a difference, the biggest influence on educational attainment is family background’. Unfortunately, this leads to the conclusion that ‘…disadvantaged children do less well at school and miss out on the benefits of education.’
This is where equality, or the lack of it, is easily highlighted. For disadvantaged children do less well at school is a national discrace and there are many articles that highlight this but less that actually offer solid solutions.
I understand that the government need to make electoral promises about improving educational opportunities for the disadvantaged but we have had very little impact from successive governments to make any real difference.
JD
The Equality Blog 