social inequalities Archives

GovToday.com, 25 February 2015

Lekan Ojumu, Sporteducate Programme Manager, Sported

In the UK there is a persistent gap in educational attainment between less advantaged pupils and those from more affluent families. If you are a pupil on free school meals (FSM) there is an attainment gap of 26.5% between you and your non-FSM counterpart in achieving an A*-C grade at GCSE Maths and English.

The pupil premium was introduced in 2011 to tackle this attainment gap and support pupils from poorer backgrounds. But outside of the school-gates what else can be done? How can targeted educational support be delivered to those young people who need it most?

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Press statement

26^th February 2015

Commenting on today’s NEET statistics, Lekan Ojumu, Sporteducate Programme Manager at Sported said: “What the latest statistics mask is that there are still huge social inequalities in youth unemployment. The fact remains, that if you come from a disadvantaged background, you are much more likely to become NEET.

We need to find alternative ways of engaging the disengaged and providing targeted support to those who need it most. This means taking a ‘bottom-up’ approach, supporting local solutions for local problems.

Community groups and initiatives, in particular, have an important role to play in reaching the young people who are at the highest risk of falling through the gaps of traditional provision and becoming NEET. By empowering these groups to provide innovative engagement activities and targeted educational interventions, we can help address some of the fundamental barriers preventing young people from moving into employment, namely key gaps in basic maths, literacy and communication skills.”

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