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Regeneration 2010 - University of Limerick Cormac Forkan ,

‘It takes a village to raise a child’ – can regeneration provide a catalyst for changing the way we respond to educational disadvantage?. Regeneration 2010 - University of Limerick Cormac Forkan , School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway Denis Barrett, City of Cork VEC.

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Regeneration 2010 - University of Limerick Cormac Forkan ,

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  1. ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ – can regeneration provide a catalyst for changing the way we respond to educational disadvantage? Regeneration 2010 - University of Limerick Cormac Forkan, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway Denis Barrett, City of Cork VEC.

  2. Introduction • Personal introduction • Copy of slides available via email if required • Paper will focus on following areas: 1. Educational disadvantage 2. JEDI Research Study 3. A Priority for the State? 4. Can regeneration change this?

  3. 1. Educational Disadvantage ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ – can regeneration provide a catalyst for changing the way we respond to educational disadvantage

  4. 1. Educational Disadvantage • Sociological analysis - core manifest, tangible functions of education (develop skills, socialisation, develop friends, social control etc) • Recognised that education – largest single determinant of life chances - key to accessing other rights, such as housing, health etc. (Lynch, 2005) • Rights to a good education: • Irish Constitution • Human Rights • Zombie affect – inequalities related to social class

  5. 1. Educational Disadvantage • However, many hidden functions of education…. pattern maintenance • Irish educational policies maintain and reinforce inequality (McVerry, 2010) • By 2008 - 4 of the 22 young people who were refused entry to second level schools in Limerick in the previous years were already dead due to gang violence.

  6. 1. Educational Disadvantage • European Commission (2004) 85% of 22 year olds in Ireland had upper 2nd level as compared to 75% for EU average. • Nevertheless - evidence of dysfunction – 78% Retention to Leaving Cert – What about other 22%?

  7. 1. Educational Disadvantage • In cumulative terms, significant number of hiddeneducationally disadvantaged. • These educational inequalities – not evenly spread across population – distributed by class, gender, ethnic grouping, origin etc. • Young people who leave school early are amongst most vulnerable in society – life chances - Layte (2006)

  8. 1. Educational Disadvantage • National Education Welfare Board (2004): • 1,000 children do not even transfer to 2nd level • 3 out of 4 prisoners had poor attendance at school and 40% left school before 14 • €14m per annum could be saved yearly if school leaving prevented • 1 in 5 at risk of poverty and 7% live in consistent poverty CSO (2006)

  9. 1. Educational Disadvantage • Obvious by-product of early school leaving is poor literacy - OECD Report (1996) – shock waves created with statistic: ¼ of population had lowest two levels of literacy on international scale • … cohort identified as being below a level needed to function effectively in society • Educational Pride? – ¼ of population not equipped with a literacy level to read a label on a medicine bottle

  10. The problem with literacy. • National Committee on Educational Disadvantage (2005) found literacy as the key issue • Low literacy levels are a barrier to social justice, National Literacy Trust UK 2008, high correlation between low literacy and prison population • Eivers, Shiel & Short, 2004 found that children in disadvantaged areas had a 3 times higher chance of severe literacy problems. NESF in 2009 found little evidence of a shift in literacy levels over 25 years.

  11. 2. JEDI Research Study • Wales & Fingal local authorities – joint bid for EU Interreg 3 Funding (2005) • JEDI Project - to deal with socially and economically excluded young people and ESL’s • Key question: • were all early school leavers being catered for by existing services? • research set out to quantify no of early school leavers in Dublin 15.

  12. 2. JEDI Research Study • Only ‘Official’ data on Early School Leavers – produced by DES in 2003 • Entitled “Retention Rates of Pupils in Post-Primary Schools – 1994 Cohort” (National & Dublin 15) • No other figures available at that time – Time-lag for local programme planning RETENTION RATES 1st Year Entry Sept 1994 Leaving Certificate June 2000

  13. 2. JEDI Research Study • Appropriate programmes can only be out in place if the scale of the issue can be accurately measured and identified in a timely fashion • Since then, • 1996 Cohort (Sept 2005) • 1997, 98, 99 Cohorts (March 2008) • 1991-2001 Cohorts (November 2009)

  14. 2. JEDI Research Study • JEDI study - shows DES only interested in successes (retention rates) – slow release of data combats programme planning • The National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) have the potential to offer a solution but remit to track students only while they are in the school system or under 16 yrs of age • Even then NEWB cannot cope with the number of students being referred by schools to them (JEDI Study)

  15. 2. JEDI Research Study • In fact an Educational Welfare Officer EWO can only follow up on those out of school more than 100 days • In the frustration caused by delay in implementing a national tracking system many different ad hoc local tracking systems have been put in place • Is this satisfactory?

  16. 2. JEDI Research Study • What happens next for an ESL? • Don’t have any/poor qualifications • Ad hoc, hit or miss services - Some targeting • Adult literacy • Lifelong learning • Last chance saloon for ESL’s • F.E. – Cinderella of ed. system

  17. 2. JEDI Research Study • A number of good practice local models exist, e.g., Pathways in Waterford, established 1997 • Partnership between Education (Secondary Schools), Training (FAS) and Early school leaving initiatives (Regional Youth Service) • Pathways tracksyoung people through and beyond Second Level school system • Full-time Co-ordinator acts as an advocate for young people to engage with the various relevant support services

  18. 3. A Priority for the State? • Current Government Policy says Yes! • National Development Plan 2007-2013. • Towards 2016 • National Skills Strategy 2007 • All put a priority on increasing the % of young people achieving Level 5 (equivalent to Leaving Cert) on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) from long term 80% to 90%

  19. 3. A Priority for the State? • Sets target for increasing the level of Qualifications to NQF Level 5 of 500,000 people currently in the workforce • All address OECD 1996 international survey stating that 25% of Irish population are at lowest 2 levels of literacy

  20. 4. Can regeneration change this? • In the UK, Lawless et al (2010) Understanding Area Based Regeneration, an evaluation of the New Deal for Communities Programme offers some hope • Evidence of change in the 39 most deprived neighbourhoods, across 6 outcomes including education

  21. 4. Can regeneration change this? • This change was found to be the result of ‘Holistic Regeneration’: • working with other agencies, • overlapping Area Based Interventions, and • having the community at the heart of the initiative enhances outcomes • Foden et al (2010) regeneration research – those engaged in New Deal for Communities – more likely to achieve positive outcomes

  22. 4. Can regeneration change this? • Success of NDC Regeneration in UK enhanced by a Review of the evidence base for regeneration policy and practice in 2001 which concluded that formidable gaps remained, • ‘There remains widespread neglect of issues such as the impact of interventions on both beneficiaries and anticipated outcomes’. DETR, 2001b. • Evidence of Correlation between the scale of investment and the degree of change • 10 year horizon necessary, a lesson learned from previous regeneration programmes

  23. 4. Can regeneration change this? • Learning from pockets of success, e.g.. Bridging the Gap, UCC and Docklands Programme 2008: some lessons: • SMART targets, Specific, Measurable… • Set them, Measure, Publish • High expectations among whole community • Professional Development • Celebration and recognition of “wins”

  24. Key Questions? • Can a Regeneration Process be a catalyst for a local change in the way the state gathers and uses data gathered relating to educational attainment, drop-out and progression, to form part of a new evidence base? • Can the evidence gathered be used by existing support services to: • Improve the targeting of appropriate supports at those who could most benefit from them; • To accurately measure the level of supports against the level of need on an annual basis.

  25. Key Observations • The point at which a young person leaves the school system without achieving NQF Level 5 qualifications is a key point in time as it represents the best initial chance of addressing the skills, functional literacy and lifelong learning needs of the individual; • To follow through on young people as they leave the school system a Data Gathering and Tracking System is needed that interfaces with the NEWB tracking system; • Such a tracking system needs to take a Lifelong Learning approach where Education, Training and Employment are all seamlessly integrated as progression routes for individuals towards Qualifications and skills; • Models such as Pathways that have proven themselves elsewhere may form the basis of such a regeneration strategy.

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