Tackling educational disadvantage: Start at the very beginning to end the inequities in access to third level, says Brian Fleming, school principal and director of the Clondalkin Higher Education Access Project
In 1965, the Investment in Education report identified deficiencies in our post-primary system in relation to access, progression and retention rates, which were determined by socio-economic status and were particularly poor in certain geographical areas.
In a courageous and progressive response, in 1967 Minister O'Malley abolished tuition fees and take-up greatly expanded as a result. However, some 25 years later international economic development group the OECD found that the system was still failing 15 per cent of the cohort, and I am not sure much pro- gress has been made since then.
The problem continues to exist in particular geographical areas among those who are socio-economically disadvantaged. For example, recent figures show that less than 65 per cent on the northside of Dublin complete the Leaving Cert - let alone go on to third level.
We know that problems of access and participation in education are complex multi-faceted ones and won't respond completely to a single dimension policy initiative.
Dr Clancy's research in relation to third level has highlighted remarkably similar problems. In the light of the previous experience, anyone who claimed that the 1997 abolition of third-level tuition fees would bring about equality of opportunity was overstating the case, to put it mildly. By the same token, to say that the 1997 initiative has failed completely, as some suggested during the recent controversy, on the basis of an analysis of the entry figures two years later, is also nonsense.
My own experience of these problems arise from many years experience as a school principal in a severely disadvantaged area and more recently, from my involvement in a higher- education access project based in a number of local schools, including my own. A number of points have been clear to me for some time now.
Firstly, as well as financial resources, a number of factors can be in play in the case of any individual young person and his/her prospects of third-level education. These include the resources available to and policies of the local post-primary school, the academic balance of intake into that school, neighbourhood factors, cultural issues, the need to take up part-time employment and indeed the policies of those employers and the attitudes and expectations of those who may influence a young person such as parents, peers and teachers.
Secondly, some progress can be made at local level with relatively small financial investment. In the case of our own project, we have managed to quadruple the proportion of Leaving Cert candidates going on to third-level education. This has resulted from a relatively small investment by the Department of Education, additional funding from the Clondalkin Partnership, who initiated the project, and administrative back-up from the County Dublin VEC, all of which has been used to support the commitment, dedication and work of parents, pupils and teachers to great effect.
However, securing further improvement to bring the figures up to national levels will be difficult. In all his work, Dr Clancy has explained that poor access to third-level education is as a result of a cumulative process of disadvantage at pre-primary, primary and post-primary level. Accordingly, while further work undoubtedly needs to be undertaken at third level, really significant progress will only be made when issues of educational disadvantage at earlier stages are tackled.
Unfortunately, the €44 million package announced recently by Noel Dempsey doesn't even begin to look at these problems. The additional funding available to third-level students is very welcome, but it is highly unlikely that the situation regarding under-representation in our third-level institutions will be greatly transformed as a result.
Unless and until the more fundamental problems at earlier stages of our education system are tackled, the situation will not be changed greatly and Minister Dempsey's concerns in this regard won't be significantly reduced. On taking up office, Minister Dempsey followed a pattern of highlighting educational disadvantage as a priority. I, like many others working at the coalface, was impressed by his sincerity and what seems to be a real commitment and determination in this matter. Maybe it was bias on my part in favour of a fellow Meath man. It would be disappointing if the recent controversy were to damage him or deflect him from his original intention.
If he and the Government really want to tackle educational disadvantage, it is not a question of moving resources within the Department budget or, indeed, identifying alternative funding at the last minute to resolve a particular crisis. It demands a more fundamental well thought-out response and seriously increased resources. Solving the problem of chronic under-representation will not be easy, cheap or rapid.
