Concern that education policies leave adults marginalised

Government education policies risk leaving marginalised adults behind because of an over-emphasis on economic benefits, a network representing some 100 community groups has claimed.

The Cork City Centre/Citywide Community Education Network says other outcomes should be prioritised, such as improved skills, self-esteem, social connectedness, and empowering learners to identify what is important to them.

The concerns were raised in a working paper presented to local and national groups concerned with education, health, and social services.

The report notes that organisations providing community education are increasing, but says that tutor funding available to them for each learner, through Cork Education and Training Board and Cork City Partnership, is reducing.

“This results in the reducing resource being allocated to an increased number of groups with the obvious implications,” the report states.

It points to a study by the European Anti-Poverty Network that highlights a doubling of numbers in deprivation nationally, from 14% to 30% of the population from 2008 to 2013.

It also flags Cork City Council’s social and demographic profile report last year, which revealed a distinct spatial component to educational disadvantage in relation to educational and skills attainment in the city.

It found that primary school was the highest completed level of education for nearly one in five people on the northside. The figure was just one in eight for the southside of the city.

“These two influences, increased deprivation and a spatial differentiation as to how this is experienced, imply a compelling case for increasing the resources and reach of community education in the city as a vehicle for social inclusion towards educational attainment, serving to build both personal and community capacities,” the report states.

The network says that education opportunities for marginalised adults could head in a direction that leaves behind those most in need of its benefits.

It also fears that current Government policy on education focuses too strongly on workplace readiness to the detriment of other important goals and outcomes.

“Many of those seeking assistance from the services of community education in Cork are suffering multiple disadvantage,” a spokesperson said. “Many are from areas of high unemployment and high poverty rates, and many have poor educational experiences to date.”