The failure of the British Education system Part 1 - Why no pupil should ever be excluded from education

 No. We have not got it right in the UK. I could probably write a million words on what we've got wrong and why, but I will keep it relatively short. Where to start? Stabbings. County Line gangs. Petty Vandalism. If I was to ask you to visualise the perpetrators in your mind, I can take a reasonable stab at what I think you'd imagine. If I was to ask you then to visual the lifethat lead to that person appearing in your mind, I can also make a reasonable stab at guessing the answer you'd give. Of course, the person you are imagining doesn't really exist. They are a mosaic of stories you've heard in the news, people you've seen on the bus and street corners, or even the person who nicked your jewellery.

I asked Google "What percentage of the prison population cannot read or write". This is the answer the Google AI gave

Approximately 50% of the UK prison population is functionally illiterate, meaning they possess reading and writing skills at or below the level expected of an 11-year-old. Some estimates suggest up to 65% of prisoners struggle with literacy, which is over four times higher than the general population. 

Interestingly, as I typed the query, it suggested "What percentage of the prison population is foreign", which means that is the most popular query. The answer "Foreign nationals made up 12% of the prison population". 

It then suggested "What percentage of the prison population is black", which means that is the second most popular query. The answer "Black people make up approximately 12% to 13% of the prison population in England and Wales."

The harsh truth is that illiteracy is what drives the majority of crime in the UK, not foreigners, etc. Given that everyone in the UK is supposed to go to school from the age of 5 to 16 or 18, we have to ask why so many people are let down. 

Sadly the root cause is simple. It is school league tables. You want to send your kids to the school which has the highest place in the league table. It sets them up for life. Schools know this so they want the 'best' pupils. The 'best' schools chuck anyone out who is dusruptive and under performing. Once pupils are excluded for performance and bad behaviour, they have an albatross around their necks. The only schools that will take them are the ones that no one really wants to go to. 

In my humble opinion, this is completely immoral. To me the best school is the one that improves the life chances of its pupils. Not the one that takes the well behaved kids, of well off parents, who have private tuition, to ensure they will always succeed in life. Does the nine year old daughter or son of an alcoholic single mother, who acts as a carer for their parent, nit deserve the best opportunities at the best school?

When a pupil is disruptive and under performing at school, there is always a reason. I know, I was that kid. The reason was I am dyselxic. I didn't even know until I was 33. At primary school, I had remedial reading sessions, as I couldn't functionally read. I used to deliberately get sent out of class, as I preferred standing in the corridor to having the stress of being ridiculed by teachers. At the age of 14, things fell into place. I still got relatively poor marks, but I had got into music and it gave me a focus.

Sadly, in this day and age, such things as county line gangs pick up troubled young people and offer them the illusion of money and status. I had a stable and strong family background. If I hadn't I have no idea what my future would have been. We didn't have league tables then. The nuns at St Vincents rarely gave up on anyone. Now schools are obsessed with OFSTED tables and I would have dragged the school down. Sadly for many that means they are simply not welcome. I asked Google how many children are excluded in the UK. The answer shocked me "In 2023/24, exclusions from state schools in England reached their highest level since 2006, with over 10,000 children (10,885) receiving a permanent exclusion and nearly 955,000 suspensions. "

Now that is a mind boggling figure. Nearly a million suspensions in a year. From a schools perspective, a suspension is a handy way of making life easy for the schools administrators and teachers. For the pupil, it means that they are being failed. Depravation of education means theft of life choices. I do not believe that any child should ever be suspended or expelled. I believe that if a child's behaviour warrants separation from other children, then schools or local authorities should do two things. The first is to find out why and the second is to fix it. That may mean being educated at a different location. That may mean one to one tuition. That may mean collecting and dropping the child back home, to ensure no truancy. That may mean assigning child psychologists to get to the bottom of the problem. That may mean proper support for parents who cannot cope. But it would also mean that young people get a chance in life. 

There are almost 100,000 people in prison and half can't read or write. We could fix that for the next generation. It would make life better for everyone in the UK. It would lower our taxes as we'd need less prisons and less police. I suspect that it would lower alcohol and drug related crime enormously. 

My view is that the education system has no interest at all in difficult and disruptive students. They are simply a problem to be got rid of. The tragedy of it, is that I passionately believe that many 'difficult' students are highly intelligent have a real contribution to make. Sadly the system is run by people who are too lazy to realise this or even be bothered to do anything about it. 

To be continued.....