Education: A Right or a Privilege?

Compulsory education is something the majority of people living in the UK will experience as they grow up, however reluctantly they involve themselves. But for 67 million children around the world, education is nothing but a pipe dream. Come September in the UK, a quarter of a million primary school places will be needed. So is education something everyone is entitled to or should it be considered a complete privilege?

Bursting At the Seams

According to a recent report by the BBC, 250,000 places will be needed in English primary schools by autumn 2014. The Spending Watchdog has stated one in five primary schools in England are currently full, or near capacity. The National Audit Office published further material showing that 80,000 extra places have been created over the past two years, but it’s simply not enough. And it’s not just primary schools that are straining to cater for the growing birth rate.

Just over one in six children did not get their first choice secondary school last year, and this climate can to lead to immoral (and occasionally illegal) behaviour by parents desperate to get their children the best education possible.  This includes forging references from the parish or applying with a fake home address. Surprisingly, this isn’t a recent predicament that parents face. In 2005 The Guardian reported that Margaret Gillespie, a deputy head teacher: “gave false information to two sought-after London secondaries, hoping that her daughter might get into one of them – only to have her world come crashing down when her lies were found out.”

Consequentially, her 11-year-old daughter was forced to leave the school she was attending just three weeks into her first term, and Gillespie’s story was plastered across national newspapers. It appears that the straightforward and less stressful approach should be honesty on your child’s application, and encouragement that they make the most of the school they enrol at. If the school is in an unfamiliar area or has a bad reputation this is obviously a cause for concern, but essentially all a parent can do is the best they can to give their child the right support at home with regards to education and morals.

Appreciation for Education

So what can be done to cater to the educational needs of Britain’s ever-growing population? Well it’s interesting to note that although many children were disappointed when they were not awarded a place at their first choice secondary school, 95.6% of applicants were offered a place at an institution that was in their top three preferences.

 Send My Friend to School

However for millions of children education just isn’t possible. Instead, they are forced to work for money to provide for their families. But the Send My Friend to School campaign, funded by Comic Relief brings together students and teachers all over the UK to educate young people about the necessity of education. After all, it is essentially many children’s ticket out of poverty. They intend to send out the message that aside from the initial anxiety of a longer journey to and from school or being split up from a close friend, an education in itself is something to be grateful for. Like many things in life, education really is what you make it.

Send My Friend to School is run by the Global Campaign for Education and encourages schools, youth groups and young individuals to highlight the global education crisis to the government, and also raises money to donate via ActionAid. Yet more work needs to be done if the target of no child without education is to be met, if the current progress rate of the campaign continues, by 2015 there will still be 48 million kids without a place to learn and study.

This year, the initiative has linked thousands of British children from 2,890 schools to “help 60 million children around the world get the education that is their right.” And that’s just it, education is a right. Every child, regardless of their family, upbringing or social status deserves the best start in life to give them the tools to build a future and a career. Without it, young people and the economic future of the planet have been deprived without even having a chance. More can be done to teach children what  a precious gift schooling is, and to give others the same gift. Because let’s face it, where would any of us be without education?