A report written by Vidhya Alakeson and published
by the Social Market Foundation, March 2005
Efforts to widen participation in education
are narrowly focused on transitions at sixteen and eighteen,
such as the creation of a university Access Regulator. Such
measures will not change the status quo significantly as
long as the UK continues to invest nearly three times as
much per student in higher education as it does per child
under five. This ignores the critical role that early education
and care plays in improving school attainment and forming
an individual's capacity for life-long learning. This report
argues that expanding opportunity can only be achieved by
a relocation of spending on education and training in favour
of the under fives.
Given current constraints in the public finances
and competing priorities for investment, a reallocation
of spending would provide the additional investment needed
to offer all children under five access to the affordable,
high quality services that will give them the best start
in school. A strong foundation for learning in the preschool
years can then be built on in primary and secondary school,
with the effect of improving attainment at sixteen. This
will create new opportunities for young people from disadvantaged
families who currently see their life chances severely limited
by poor attainment in school.
Failure to invest adequate amounts early in
the life cycle means that the education system will continue
to fail nearly half of all young people, particularly those
from disadvantaged backgrounds. Young people who leave school
without 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C are forced to make up for
poor attainment the first time round through 'second chance'
adult education and training programmes that have a dire
track record. Many offer little improvement in employability
or earnings.
The current pattern of spending treats each
phase of education separately. A reallocation of spending
in favour of the early years emphasises the connections
between different phases, recognising that doing well in
one phase depends on prior attainment and, in turn, influences
the likelihood of doing well in the future. In the medium
term, the following changes should be made to spending on
education and training to ensure that investment underpins
the government's commitment to improving life chances:
- Raise the £3000 cap on student contributions to higher
education to limit annual growth in public funding.
Redirect savings in government spending on universities
to support high quality early years services.
- Switch investment from ineffective classroom-based
training for low skilled young people and adults to
more effective, lower cost work-based options, including
subsidised work. Redirect savings in government spending
on the low skilled to support high quality early years
services.
- Add savings in public spending on higher education
and the low skilled to the £1 billion earmarked for
the childcare tax credit in 2007/8 to increase direct
funding to childcare providers. This will reduce the
parental contribution to early education and care and
remove the affordability barrier for all families.
- Invest in targeted follow-on interventions during
school to maintain the gains from high quality early
education and care and prevent the attainment of disadvantaged
children from slipping back. This will increase the
percentage of sixteen year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds
achieving five GCSEs at grades A*-C, making a lasting
contribution to life chances.
For more information go to www.smf.co.uk
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