IF you live in the South of Ireland you live in a state where 63% of young people go to third level education. In West Belfast it is 29.7%, the lowest in the North.
If you are a child living in the South of Ireland the risk of living in poverty will be 14%, if you are a child living in West Belfast it is 33%, the highest in the North.
The connections between these two statistics are clear and obvious to all of us who have lived with the impact of poverty, neglect and structural discrimination.
Piecemeal answers cannot hide the huge questions and challenges that arise from these figures. There are interconnected strategies at work (or not, as the case may be) which result in these stubborn figures, which are news to no-one paying attention.
The impact of structural and deliberate discrimination since partition, the heavy economic and social impact of the conflict which disproportionately impacted West Belfast, and the failure of Westminster to understand or engage with those legacies in the context of transition account for a seismic part of that story. Intergenerational unemployment and poverty, housing stresses and poor health, often linked to trauma, will also form part of the story. And our children are paying the price of that.
West Belfast is a place of inspiration, innovation, courage and tenacity, with unsurpassed community and political leadership. Imagine if we hadn’t had those leaders and you imagine an entire population deliberately thrown to the wolves. But that doesn’t mean that the landscape of challenge should not face a cold light of day and create fresh and immediate impetus.
The economic success of the South is almost entirely linked to the educational attainments of the population. Educational attainment in the 21st century requires equal access and support ecosystems. That requires investment. Special Educational Needs. School-based counselling programmes. Funded school meals, breakfast clubs and after-schools clubs. Teachers who are valued with long term security and support.
It also requires investment in the access routes to schools and third-level. Innovative programmes like the stunning Aisling Awards tell young people that they are valued and worthy of being invested in; that must become the norm, from the day a child takes their first steps. That means meaningful community, health and youth provision, and support for parents and carers from day one.
20th century testing of 11-year-olds is stupid and self-defeating. That it has become impossible to resolve is beyond belief, and a symbol of abject policy failure. In order for many young people to finish school and get a place in college they require meaningful financial and other support to get to the end. Many require access to free housing, healthcare, counselling and mentoring. It is impossible to convey to those who design policies in Westminster, who are invariably from backgrounds where third-level is the norm, what it means to be the first in your family, street or peer group to stay on to A-Levels, and then think about, let alone go to, college. And how hard that is if you have zero means. Participation in education should not create an unbearable financial strain on a family.
But the investment is worth it. Education is the key to breaking the cycles of poverty, and lifting West Belfast out of these dire statistics.
