Poverty A Barrier For Pupils

New Report Reveals High Cost To Poor Families Of 'Free' Education.

Young people in Scotland believe poverty puts up barriers to learning that hold children back, prevents them from having a fair chance at school and affects their opportunities in the future. 

A joint report by Save the Children and Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People, launched today, shows the costs of school - from text-books and classroom materials, to school trips and uniforms - quickly accumulate, becoming a financial burden for families on a low income and, in some cases, limit children’s ability to fully take part in school life.
 
The report, Learning Lessons: Young People's Views on Poverty and Education in Scotland, looks at the views of almost 1000 secondary school pupils from across Scotland, the first time young people’s views on the issue have been gathered on this scale.
 
It will be launched today at an event in Edinburgh attended by Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Mike Russell MSP.
 
Education is considered an essential factor to being successful in life, with 88% of those surveyed agreeing. But the report also found that while young people think poverty shouldn’t make a difference to their learning and education in Scotland, they believe it does. In addition, young people think that poverty and lack of money influences their decision-making about future education choices.
 
As well as the impact that school costs have on learning, the young people surveyed also identified the home environment as playing an important role. Relationships with, and support from, family was deemed to be vital but the stresses and pressures on families living in poverty was raised as another barrier to learning, from parents working long shifts, to an expectation that pupils have a personal computer and quiet space to do their homework, children in low income homes face more disadvantages.
 
The entrenched, negative link between poverty and children's achievement in school is the most pressing issue facing Scottish education. While the increased attention that this is getting from policy-makers and school leaders is welcome, little was previously known about young people’s views on how poverty affects education and learning.
 
The Learning Lessons report offers the chance to remove that blind spot and look at the issue through the eyes of young people. Their views and experiences should be central to both understanding the issue and finding solutions.
 
The key messages from young people surveyed in the report are:
 
Lesson 1: There are a number of costs associated with school that stack up and put pressure on family budgets including:

· Basic materials for school work - pens, pencils, rulers, jotters and calculators

· Additional costs for materials for some subjects, like design and technology, music and home economics

· School uniforms

·  School trips

 Lesson 2: The costs associated with school can impact negatively on young people living in poverty in a number of ways including:

· Missing out on opportunities

· Not having the same chance to take part in certain subjects

· Feeling left out and different

· Risk of being bullied and stigmatised for being poor

· Unfairly penalised through classroom practices, for example through charges for replacement materials like pencils and paper, and sanction systems where you lose ‘merits’ if you don’t have the right equipment or school uniform . When accumulated, these could result in a punishment like not being allowed to go on school trips.

 
Lesson 3: Young people living in poverty can find it difficult to access resources needed to support learning at home:

· Particularly access to books, the internet and equipment such as laptops and computers

· 81% of survey participants thought growing up in a family without a lot of money makes a difference to the resources a young person has at home

· In some schools or classes homework requires access to the internet but not everyone has this at home

· Support from family is vital but not always available due to parents working, not having studied specific subjects or not feeling confident in their knowledge because of their own learning experiences.

Tam Baillie, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People, said:

"I'm committed to working for more equitable access to opportunities for learning, especially for children and young people living in poverty.
 
"There is very little research that tells us what young people themselves think and know about growing up in families living on low incomes and this report aims to plug that gap by setting out the views and voices of young people on how poverty can impact on education, both in and out of school.
 
"It raises some important issues for policy-makers and politicians to consider how they can better support those children and young people who feel the impact of poverty on their education and daily lives."

Neil Mathers, Save the Children's Head of Scotland, said: 

"This research has asked young people how they feel about the issues, for the first time, and what has come across clearly is concern for pupils living on a low income. They want more support and a level playing field for all young people.
 
"Scotland's education system needs to ensure the poorest pupils aren’t penalised and, instead, are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential.
 
"If we don’t take further steps to reduce the impact of poverty on children's learning, we will continue to fail some of our most vulnerable young people and limit their opportunities. We want policy-makers and school leaders to listen and act."
 
Save the Children and Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People are calling on the Scottish Government to eliminate the financial barriers to learning in school. They also recommend that policy-makers and school leaders increase support to families to help them engage in their children’s learning; develop approaches that strengthen positive home-school links; and establish joined-up approaches to support pupils within and beyond the school gates.