Rainforests have been sacrificed this week in an attempt to analyse the riots in English cities. One of the best efforts appears in the current edition of The Spectator - from Harriet Sargeant, who points the finger squarely at education – or lack of it – that has made a swathe of young men and women unemployable. Quoting figures on literacy released in the week before the riots Sargeant maintains that “… Sixty-three percent of white working class boys and just over half of black Caribbean boys at the age of 14 have a reading age of seven or below... teaching a child to read or write is not difficult or expensive … much poorer countries manage to do it”. Indeed. By the age of 14, she goes on, these boys have been humiliated in class and have either dropped out or been excluded. They then spend their life on the streets. “Other people go from school to university”, says one, “We go from school to prison”. And it gets worse. She accuses the educational establishment of putting their ‘cherished beliefs’ first and the child a poor second. Faced with a child who cannot learn, teachers will, Sargeant says, blame the child or his background, but not their teaching. Yet of 450,000 teachers [in England], only 12 have been suspended for incompetence over the past nine years. While in years gone by they could have obtained employment in a factory with few or no qualifications, the jobs now on offer in service industries require skills they do not have. And so, of the 1.8 million rise in employment while Labour were in power, 99% went to immigrants, who are educated and do have the skills we need. Benefits that pay more than jobs keep the young men in their dependency and young women becoming single mothers Sargeant’s first analysis of the problem - Wasted : the betrayal of white working class and black Caribbean boys was published two years ago in 2009 by the Centre for Policy Studies. Sadly, as with other similar studies and reports, little seems to have been acted on. Time to move on from being caught like rabbits in the headlight and take notice of those like Sargeant and Frank Field who have for years been warning about a need for early intervention, greater parenting skills and reform of welfare. Perhaps this week will concentrate all our minds wonderfully. |
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