Every child has the right to an education.
But why is upholding this right so important? Well, simply put – it changes lives.
As a tool, education plays a fundamental role in breaking the cycle of poverty, supporting children’s survival, growth, development and well-being as well as closing the gap in social inequality. It has the ability to increase earnings as an adult and shape children into contributing members of society.
It creates critical thinkers who can use their own voice to pass on their knowledge and help the next generation improve their lives and that of their families and communities. Education is a tool that can genuinely change the world.
So why is it that so many children don’t have access to education?
Why do so many children get left behind through no fault of their own?
If all children have the right to an education, what can we do to make sure we see this through and uphold this most valuable of rights?
Articles 28 and 29 of the UNCRC state that children should have access to compulsory education for all children across the globe. This means that education must be safely and sufficiently available to all children, either geographically, or via distance/remote learning.
When we consider that there are almost 260 million children out of school globally, or that girls are two times more likely than boys to never step foot in a classroom, this right becomes that much more important.
Without this access, children will miss out on vital learning experiences that give them the best chance to reach their potential, and for many children living in abject poverty, a chance to give themselves and their families a better life.
Let’s take a look at how things work right here in our own backyard.
In poorer and developing nations, there are many barriers to children’s education.
These include:
But in a wealthy, developed OECD nation like Australia, where resources should be plentiful, what is stopping children from accessing an education they all have a right to?
Unfortunately, when it comes to gaps in Australian education, some of the stats are quite startling – and they’re continuing to grow.
Currently, education resource gaps in Australia are some of the largest in the developed world. These gaps are found between rural and city schools, advantaged and disadvantaged schools, and public and private schools. They include teaching and support staff shortages, no access to required technologies, lack of physical resources and larger travel times for those living in remote communities.
Ultimately, these lack of resources have flowed on to children becoming detached from education and falling through trap doors that see them missing out on formal schooling altogether. According to education department data and statistics, this means roughly 50,000 children are disconnected from any form of education at any one time.
For these young people who’ve been left behind, it seems as though they are further away than ever from an equitable education. And since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, those numbers have only gotten worse.
But what are the true effects of the pandemic on education for Australia’s children and how do they fit into our recent academic performance?
According to the most recent OECD PISA tests, Australia has been sliding down literacy and numeracy rankings for almost 15 years. And while the majority of children are still accessing their education, this hardly meets the standards of ‘sufficient education’ outlined in Article 28 of the UNCRC.
And when we start to include the numbers from the last two years of the pandemic, it becomes clear that many children are not accessing the best possible education that Australia can offer.
For many children across Australia (especially those in Victoria) the last two years have meant accessing some of their education from home. With COVID-19 leading to almost two terms of remote learning in Victoria, this lack of face-to-face classroom time has once again highlighted the divide between our richest and poorest schools.
Rolling school shutdowns have clearly widened inequality for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a lack of access to digital technologies that are necessary for home learning. And children from non-English speaking backgrounds are missing out on access to education support staff and translators.
Compare this with children who may come from affluent families who can afford tutors and one-to-one learning technologies, and it’s easy to see how this inequality continues to grow.
Ultimately, only time will tell what the long term effects of COVID will be on learning in Australia, but if it has done anything, it has shone a light on the need for fair and equitable distribution of resources for all children. Something that we may have begun to sadly forget about.
So what can we do to help bridge the gap and ensure that every child has access to an equal education?
With Australia’s education system failing up to one in three children, how can families, communities and the government work together to improve access to education?
In the end, it’s all about fighting for policy that promotes equity.
By strengthening equity in education, Australian schools can provide a level of schooling that sits as some of the best in the world. It’s a strategy that has worked for most successful education systems across the globe.
Ultimately, it’s a long road to ensure every child has access to the same level of education, but there are ways we can get things started.
This includes:
For those of us not in government, there are also a few things we can do to make ourselves heard and maintain awareness of this important right.
These include:
While it might seem easy to think that Australia has developed a fair and equitable education system – one where all children can develop and grow via world class schools – the simple truth is, it hasn’t.
Many children are being left behind
With more and more children missing out on this basic human right, and equality sharply disappearing, it’s vital that we remain aware and vocal about how our children can learn as they grow.
And at the end of the day, it’s important that we start somewhere. Anywhere.
By simply acknowledging that many Australian children aren’t getting the education they deserve, we’re on the right path. And by advocating against this widening gap, we can start to see real change.
If you’d like to learn more about children’s rights and how it can help them develop into the best human they can be, please visit our blog.
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References
https://www.pwc.com.au/government/government-matters/covid-19-education-how-australian-schools-are-responding.html
https://www.savethechildren.org/us/what-we-do/education
https://saveourschools.com.au/equity-in-education/education-resource-gaps-in-australia-remain-amongst-the-largest-in-the-world/
https://en.unesco.org/themes/right-to-education/state-obligations
https://publiceducationfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Issues-Paper_What-Price-The-Gap.pdf
https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/
https://reliefweb.int/report/world/20-reasons-why-2020-there-are-still-260m-children-out-school
https://www.unicef.org/education/girls-education
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-15/school-principals-dont-have-enough-maths-science-teachers/100214738
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/50-000-children-missing-from-school-australia-s-hidden-disaster-revealed-20191126-p53e5z.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-10/covid19-digital-divide-education-gap/100362096
https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/lockdowns-make-victoria-s-kids-poorer-20210615-p5814a
https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/717786-how-covid-19-impacting-education-children-multilingual-communities
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-09/education-policy-learning-problem-australia-schooling-funding/12034350
https://www.unicef.ca/en/discover/education