You could play a part in ending education inequality

TODAY the South Wales Echo teams up with Teach First to launch the “Challenge the Impossible” campaign – to highlight the deep inequality in Welsh and English education and encourage more people to take up teaching.

The campaign looks to shed fresh light on the hurdles faced by poorer children at every stage of their lives and find more talented people to recognise the problem, see themselves as the solution and make a step into the classroom.

The campaign, which is also being supported by other Trinity Mirror titles across the country, follows on from last year when we joined forces with the charity to encourage people to consider a change of career and take up teaching.

This first campaign saw a 50% increase in applications in Wales from career changers and helped send 30 teachers into schools serving disadvantaged areas across Wales.

Teach First, which is marking its 15th anniversary, is now working with the South Wales Echo to raise awareness of education inequality and to seek to inspire readers to play their part in working to end it. For September 2017 the charity is looking for maths and science teachers in Wales.

A spokesman for the charity said: “Despite fantastic progress in many areas which was previously considered ‘impossible,’ only one in three children from poorer families in Wales achieve five good GCSEs at A* to C including maths and English or Welsh, compared to two in three of their wealthier peers.

“Just 14.1% of disadvantaged young people from Wales progress to higher education, compared to 44.1% of their wealthier peers.

“No child’s dreams should be written off because of their background. By working together with the South Wales Echo, we seek to inspire readers to play their part in ending educational inequality.”

Jennifer Owen-Adams, country director for Teach First Cymru, said: “This isn’t just a problem in education, it is one of the biggest problems facing our country. It’s completely unacceptable and it is preventing huge numbers of young people from fulfilling their potential.

“It’s all too easy to think this problem is impossible to overcome, but in our 15 years we’ve seen how passionate, talented individuals are determined to challenge the status quo to make sure all children get the education that they deserve.”

“That’s why we’re highlighting how much more needs to be done to challenge the impossible.

“Great teachers can make all the difference to a young person’s life, so we’re calling on readers to be part of the solution by applying to start their classroom journey with Teach First this September.”

Ms Owen-Adams described Wales as a “great place” to teach, adding: “There’s a really forward-looking progressive programme here.

“It’s an exciting time to teach and Welsh schools are at the cutting edge of innovation.”

Speaking about the type of people the campaign is looking for, she said: “We want dedicated people who want to make a difference, who are moved