The people of the Market are being denied their right to an education, with a quarter (24%) having no quallifications, rising to 62%, when the NISRA defined 'Low Qualifications' are also included

Market Health Study 2006

Survey:

>> 24%

Of Residents have no qualifications.

>> Human Rights Indicator

We demand a reduction from 28% to 14% by January 2020 through the fully resourced development and implementation of an education strategy for the area.

>> Action

We demand the immediate development and implementation of a fully resourced education strategy for the Market.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS:

EDUCATION

Everyone has the right to education. – Article 26.1 UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

The right of everyone to education … education shall be directed to the full development of
the human personality and the sense of its dignity … education shall enable all to participate effectively in a free society – Article 13.1 UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)

Every child has the right to an education …. 

Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full – Articles 28 & 29 UNCRC (1989)

No person shall be denied the right to education – Article 2 UK Human Rights Act (1998)

The right to equal opportunity in all social and economic activity, regardless of class, creed, disability, gender or ethnicity – Strand 6.1, Good Friday Agreement

The Survey also showed

>> 33%

of people would like to get involved in education programmes. 

>> 46%

of people do not have enough qualifications

>> 57%

of people cannot afford to access further/ higher education.

The Market and the Education Gap

The survey results for education clearly show that the people of the Market are being denied their right to an education, with a quarter (24%) having no qualifications, rising to 62% when the NISRA defined ‘low qualifications’ are also included. This is much higher than the 2011 Census data which averaged at 41% having no/ low qualifications for the wider area,82 which still ranks among the top 10% most deprived in education, skills and training according to the latest Multiple Deprivation Measures from 2017.83 This grim picture is further compounded by the fact that over half of residents (57%) cannot afford to access further or higher education, ensuring they can never escape the ‘poverty trap.’

Poverty and Education

The relationship between poverty and low achievement at school is part of a wider cycle in which family disadvantage is passed on from one generation to the next. Closing the opportunity gap in education is an important part of combatting long-term causes of disadvantage. 84

2018 Market Community Survey

The findings of the 2018 Market Community Survey are unsurprising, as there is a long and well established link between poverty and educational deprivation. A 2007 paper by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation noted that the link between poverty and poor educational attainment was “a crucial relationship” and that “children growing up in poverty and disadvantage are less likely to do well at school. This feeds into disadvantage in later life which in turn affects their children” as

More recently a joint survey conducted by the National Education Union and the Child Poverty Action Group in March 2018 found that among educational professionals “a staggering 87% of respondents say that poverty is having a significant impact on the learning of their pupils and students and 60% believe that the situation has worsened since 2015,” resulting in a situation where “schools have become a lifeline for poor families by providing the daily essentials – such as food, clothing and even, in a small number of cases, emergency loans – for families with nowhere else to go.”85 The extensive literature linking poverty and education has also pinpointed the aggregate historical experience that residents in communities like the Market have endured as a key link in the reproduction of educational deprivation as “‘ghettoisation’, health inequalities, high levels of unemployment, poor housing and poor infrastructure for such individuals and communities, together these factors are linked to, and compound, poor educational attainment.”86 It is outlined elsewhere in this document how this process of ‘ghettoisation’ has been and is being enacted in the Market. In the 2014 report Childhood in Transition: Growing Up in ‘Post-Conflict’ Northern Ireland, researchers for Queen’s University found that 

While the external perception of Northern Ireland is a society that has emerged successfully from three decades of war, the impact of the Conflict continues. The broadly proclaimed peace dividend was not evident in the views of children, young people, community members and workers who participated in the research. Frustration, anger and resentment were voiced regarding the rhetoric of 'peace' and claims for 'progress.' The research found that the six economically disadvantaged communities deeply affected by the Conflict were attempting to address its legacy with inadequate resources. 87

2018 Market Community Survey

Closing the Gap:

Our Actions for Government

The survey clearly shows that the rights of Market residents to a full education are not being met, and that they currently have inadequate resources to progress. It also shows that education cannot be treated in isolation from the other Human Rights Indicators. A 2007 review of the specialist literature on poverty and educational deprivation has noted that a…

Socially critical perspective outlines clearly the view that the relationship between poverty and education is unlikely to be disturbed unless fundamental issues of power and interest, advantage and disadvantage are addressed. This perspective suggests that simply tackling the immediate problems of poverty and education will ultimately prove to be ineffective if underlying inequalities reproduce these problems in other forms. 88

2018 Market Community Survey

We therefore demand a reduction from 28% to 14% by January 2020 in the number of residents with no qualifications, through the immediate development and implementation of a fully resourced education strategy for the area, to be implemented in conjunction with all other Market Human Rights Indicators.

Have you been affected by any of these issues?

We would love to hear from you please get in contact, Join our mailing list to get alerts and updates about these and other ongoing issues in the Market Area.