Equality drive
UNIVERSITIES and schools should work in partnership to help primary pupils and their parents see higher education as a viable future option, Scotland’s fair access commissioner has said.
A number of institutions including Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian and Queen Margaret currently run programmes with primary pupils, but Professor Sir Peter Scott said work in primary could be expanded.
In particular, Sir Peter argues that training of primary teachers – which is delivered by universities – could include more work on widening access.
He said: “I’m not sure we make the connection between fair access agendas and the fact universities are responsible for training school teachers.
“I don’t know how much focus there is on issues of widening access and motivating a broad section of pupils, particularly in primary school, but it is a massive advantage that universities have in that they are responsible for training school teachers and they are a key group in shaping attitudes.
“An awful lot of teachers are typically from more advantaged backgrounds, so sometimes they need to understand what it is like for kids to have been less successful in education than they have.”
Sir Peter said work to support pupils in the upper years of secondary was crucial, but would only ever have a limited impact.
He added: “Intervening in the later years of secondary education is picking up people who are not quite going to make the grade because they have suffered various forms of disadvantage, but they are pretty well motivated and it doesn’t take a great deal to get them over the line.
“Unfortunately, there has been a lot of selecting people out before that of those who don’t have that level of motivation.
“If you are a middle-class pupil you don’t have to be that motivated because parents and teachers will do it for you and it is a natural progression to go to university.
“People from backgrounds less familiar to higher education don’t see it like that and don’t have that natural support.”
Sir Peter said primary school parents should be alerted to the possibilities of higher education for their children.