Children are being ‘failed on a grand scale’
According to this article
Prof Sir Michael Marmot, on the second anniversary of his major review into how wealth affects health, disclosed that four in ten children are failing to master the basic skills expected of a five year-old.
The number of failing pupils in poorer areas is almost double the number in wealthier suburban parts of the country meaning children’s lives are being ‘blighted’ from an early age by inequality, Sir Michael, Director of University College London, Institute of Health Equity, said.
It goes on to highlight children in a number of rural areas as being top of the heap explaining “Children in traditionally affluent areas did better on the score, with seven in ten classed as having a good level of development in Rutland and Richmond in 2011. Both had improved on the 2010 scores. Where as at the bottom of the scale, only five in ten five-year-olds inBlackpoolachieved the ‘good’ development score in 2011 which had hardly changed on the 2010 level.”
Does this point to a simple rural/urban divide with the worst performers in towns and cities or might things be a little more complex? What do you think?