Educational Equality

Educational Equality

1. Introduction

A topic that continues to receive increasing attention in the education world is the issue of equality. Society has a moral mandate and obligation to ensure that learners, especially children, receive adequate education that provides the necessary skills that are required to become positive contributors in the adult society. The obligation also serves as a societal advantage because having some children lacking quality education would translate to a social waste (Chzhen et al., 2018). It would mean a waste of human talent that may otherwise contribute positively to the societal welfare. Every student has their own unique talents that are nurtured through the formal education system and learning. Equality in education looks at how impartiality, fairness, and justice can be attained in education. Equality is also defined by Lynch and Baker (2005) as attaining equity, the act of accommodating as well as meeting specific needs of different individuals. In the confines of the education sector, equality, therefore, refers to the deliberate cause of ensuring that the learning needs of learners are met. If a society fails to develop these talents, it loses on opportunities for progress and enrichment. Where some learners have an advantage over the other in learning, inequality exists. In the long-term, financial and social costs of those in poor education systems begin to emerge. Inadequate learning stemming from education inequality should be eliminated as it causes poor economic growth, social waste, reduced tax revenue, and increased healthcare costs, increased crime, and social insecurity. The focus of this report is to present education equality as an emerging educational policy and to provide an argument that discusses the meaning, individual understanding, and offer recommendations on how to implement and improve it.

2. Educational Equality

The current educational system around the world does not support educational equality. Educational equality means that every learner has the same and equal rights in accessing education regardless of their background, race, nationality, gender, occupation, social status, property status, and religious beliefs. According to Anne Winter (2018), equality in education means that every individual in a society has equal access to school, equal treatment in the process of education, and equal opportunities for achievement. The ultimate goal of education is the free and harmonious development of individuals. Therefore, educational equality and its principles can only be attained through respecting the basic human rights and the development of freedom of each individual. In a recent exploration of the issue on education, Sloam et al. (2021) found a connection between the principle of equal educational rights and equal political and economic rights, explaining that political and economic systems that support equality also have equal education structures. As expected, there is a deep connection between how a society is constructed and how it eventually provides education to societal members. A good education system is where the teaching and learning processes are equally accessible to children, through equal treatment and success in the process of education. However, Mazzoli, Todd, and Laing (2018) mentioned the principle of differential treatment where the effect of education will be different due to the talent, opportunity and opportunity of the educated individual, equal opportunity cannot be realized mechanically. Therefore, the realization of educational equality is bound to give different educational treatment to each individual.

2.1 Equity Theory in Education

The equity theory, a key concept in sociology, provides that education can be used to attain equal social and economic status. Equity is defined by Chapman and Ainscow (2019) as a state where social and personal circumstances are not limitations to the attainment of educational potential and that every person reaches the basic minimum skill levels. In this definition, inclusion and fairness are used to show that economic and social status are attainable through quality education for all. Circumstances such as family background, gender, economic status, and ethnic origin should not be a limitation to the attainment of educational goals. Equity theory, as Martin (2019) asserts, essentially attempts to explain how individuals view their own efforts versus what is received externally in return. In short, the equity theory points out that people are in a constant monitoring mode to determine if their situation can be classified as fair. In this regard, students, especially those in their early years of study, are obsessed with issues of fairness. The equity theory provides an understanding that education should be closely monitored and controlled by the government through legislation and other measures to ensure equality and to reap the benefits of a fair and inclusive system in the long run. Overall, every child deserves a good education and every child should achieve high standards.

2.2 Inequality in the British Education System

The Education Act 2011 contains the legislative elements of a reform programme aimed at eliminating inequalities in the British education system. Looking particularly at the effect of the legislative changes in the act, it sets out how reforms to the school system together amount to a real change in ending the vast and entrenched inequalities regarding opportunities in the education sector, economic, and social realms (Soysal & Baltaru, 2021). From a personal perspective, this legislation helps to achieve equality in education, but at this stage, the gap between the rich and the poor still has the greatest impact on equality in education. Despite an increase in the level of acceptance of students from different backgrounds in British universities, there are still huge differences between different universities, and the problem of education inequality still exists. For example, in the elite universities represented by Russell university group, Bhopal (2017) found that it is difficult to see students from low income backgrounds or those from poor regions of the country. The effect is that the number of students from well-off backgrounds is significantly higher than that of students from poor backgrounds. As the situation continues to receive attention, the environment is in British universities is changing to become more open and inclusive, further reducing the gap in the attainment of equality in the education sector.

2.3 Outcomes of Inequality in Education

The consequences of class consolidation in the education sector are dire and with longer lasting effects. On the one hand, it will affect social mobility and reduce economic productivity. On the other hand, if young people never see hope, it may even lead to similar recent events in Hong Kong. Education inequality in Britain has led to an increasing gap and the existence of social clusters that affect generations in a vicious repetitive cycle. The overall performance of students in England’s big cities continues to rise, but in the remote areas, the academic performance gap caused by race and family background is widening (Pensiero & Schoon, 2019). The gap is continuing to expand. The main danger is that the more the advantage-disadvantage gap widens, the longer it will take to bridge it and to attain fairness and inclusivity in the education sector.

3. Personal Understanding of the Issue

My understanding of the issue of educational inequality begs the question of how both equity and equality can be achieved in the process of teaching and learning. One of the most important things to note is on the definition of equality in education as an idea that learners should have access to equal education opportunities regardless of features such as disability, class, race, gender, and sexuality. In this definition, it is vital to see the role of the defining characteristics of an individual as a hindrance to equal education opportunities. Throughout history, characteristics including disability, class, race, gender, and sexuality have been used to systematically create rifts and exclusions. The effect is that minorities do not receive proper education and this has not changed in a manner enough to alter the status quo. To begin on the same academic foot, the factors that limit an individual to create disadvantages must be addressed. For example, a learner who already comes from a single parent household is limited in terms of the support and the availability of resources. These factors are outside the control of an individual and should not matter when receiving an education. Despite the UK education system having evolved significantly over the last few years, there is more to do in order to ensure that true equality and equity can be achieved. A combination of the political, economic, and social factors are needed to ensure that learners in the UK have equal opportunities to succeed and to receive quality education.

4. Conclusion

To sum up, I see a need for the UK to further introduce newer and better policies relating to education equality. The government and other social structures have an obligation to ensure that learners, especially children, receive adequate education that provides the necessary skills that are required to become positive contributors in the adult society. In this role, it would be easier for the nation to attain societal advantage because having some children lacking quality education would translate to a social waste. The discussion finds that the consequences of class consolidation in the education sector are dire and with longer lasting effects. Further, the report finds that despite an increase in the level of acceptance of students from different backgrounds in British universities, there are still huge differences between different universities, and the problem of education inequality still exists. It is recommended that new policies be implemented to eliminate traditional barriers to equal education for all in the UK.

References

Anne Winter, L. (2018). Relational equality in education: what, how, and why?. Oxford Review of Education, 44(3), 338-352.

Bhopal, K. (2017). Addressing racial inequalities in higher education: Equity, inclusion and social justice. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(13), 2293-2299.

Burkam, D. T. (2013). Educational Inequality and Children: The Preschool and Early School Years. The Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination in the 21st Century [2 Volumes], 381.

Chapman, C., & Ainscow, M. (2019). Using research to promote equity within education systems: Possibilities and barriers. British Educational Research Journal, 45(5), 899-917.

Chzhen, Y., Rees, G., Gromada, A., Cuesta, J., & Bruckauf, Z. (2018). An Unfair Start: Inequality in Children’s Education in Rich Countries. Innocenti Report Card 15. UNICEF.

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Lynch, K., & Baker, J. (2005). Equality in education: An equality of condition perspective. Theory and research in education, 3(2), 131-164.

Martin, D. B. (2019). Equity, inclusion, and antiblackness in mathematics education. Race Ethnicity and Education, 22(4), 459-478.

Mazzoli Smith, L., Todd, L., & Laing, K. (2018). Students’ views on fairness in education: the importance of relational justice and stakes fairness. Research Papers in Education, 33(3), 336-353.

Pensiero, N., & Schoon, I. (2019). Social inequalities in educational attainment: The changing impact of parents’ social class, social status, education and family income, England 1986 and 2010. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 10(1), 87-108.

Sloam, J., Kisby, B., Henn, M., & Oldfield, B. (2021). Voice, equality and education: the role of higher education in defining the political participation of young Europeans. Comparative European Politics, 19(3), 296-322.

Soysal, Y. N., & Baltaru, R. D. (2021). University as the producer of knowledge, and economic and societal value: the 20th and twenty-first century transformations of the UK higher education system. European Journal of Higher Education, 1-17.