The
BBC Northern Ireland web
site carried an article in which West Belfast
MLA Diane Dodds highlighted a recently published
report that claimed nearly two-thirds of people
of working age in the Shankill Road area of West
Belfast had no educational qualifications. Once
again these figures demonstrate the contempt both
the British Government and the UUP, whilst it was
the majority Unionist party, have historically displayed
towards working class Unionists. Whilst in office
the SF Assembly Education 'Minister' made a start
at getting to grips with this problem by abolishing
the Eleven Plus and selective education. However
given the figures from the report Dodds highlighted,
this alone is clearly not going to be enough. Unless
major resources are pushed into this community and
similar ones in the North, a considerable population
of a lumpen underclass will become a permanent fixture
within the Unionist working class communities, with
all the opportunities such a population offers the
exploitative tentacles of paramilitary criminal
gangs such as the UDA.
Some
may claim that the population of the Shankill has
always been poorly educated; whilst this is undoubtedly
true, the difference today is that there are few
job opportunities available these days in heavy
industry. In the past a poorly educated youth on
leaving school, if family contacts where available,
or if the youngster was persistent or indeed lucky
enough, he had a fair chance of either getting an
apprenticeship in the shipyard or in one of Belfast's
other engineering companies. If his educational
abilities were too inadequate to attain an apprenticeship,
the industries I have aforementioned always needed
fit young men to man the likes of a shipyard heavy
gang or as a tradesmen's mate. Few, if any, of these
industries exist today and certainly not on the
scale they once did. Thus, the poorly educated have
an ever-shrinking jobs market to apply for work
within. Yes, there are still employment opportunities
in the new economy that is slowly developing in
the North, especially the service industries such
as tourism, call centres and retail. Whilst these
businesses are prepared to take on people without
qualifications, even in these certain social skills
are required, in addition to a basic understanding
of arithmetic and grammar. It is also a harsh fact
of this new economy that those with the most basic
education are doomed to remain on the lowest if
not minimum wage with little chance of promotion
or job security.
There
is no doubt that the people of areas like the Shankill
are no less intelligent than those Protestants who
reside in the more leafy suburbs of Belfast, or
indeed their working class nationalist neighbours.
No, what we have here is what as far as making use
of life's chances is a double whammy. Central and
local government have neglected their educational
opportunities to the most shameful level, but also
amongst many working class Unionist families there
has been a lack of ambition for their children.
I feel I must add so there is no confusion here,
I am not saying there is a lack of love or care
of their children by these working class parents,
far from it. But due to the lack of educational
opportunities experienced by many of these parents
themselves, their sights have become set at a very
low level as far as their future ambitions for their
own offspring is concerned. It is sadly an attitude
of, "Well, this is the way of the world".
That
education has not been a priority is nothing new
within this loyalist community, as can be demonstrated
by contrasting the number of Loyalist prisoners
from within it who gained educational qualifications
with their Republican counterparts. Within the Nationalist
working class communities education, whilst often
equally inadequate although for slightly different
reasons, has always been seen by a majority of people
as the foremost opportunity to a better life economically.
Sadly this has not been so within Unionist Working
Class communities. As far as I can gather there
is no equivalent within Loyalism of individuals
like Dr Anthony McIntyre or Dr Pat Magee, working
class Republicans who both gained doctorates while
imprisoned, let alone the hundreds of Republican
prisoners who gained lesser educational qualifications,
although rightly of equal importance to those who
achieved them.
Within
the Unionist working class community in the North,
as in many similar communities elsewhere in the
world during the industrial age, parents set their
sights on their male children following in the father's
footsteps, down the mine, into the shipyard, docks,
etc. The reason this attitude did not take hold
to the same degree within nationalist communities
in the North was because in the main they were barred
from such reasonably well-paid manual jobs by the
ingrained bigotry of the northern statelet. Hence
many of them became aware and understood the value
of education for their children.
In
my mind there is absolutely no reason why the kids
on the Shankill cannot achieve the levels of educational
qualifications achieved in middle class Unionist
areas. For this to come about any new government
that eventually gets beyond the latest rounds of
posing, spinning and self aggrandisement by the
north's politicians will have to come clean about
the low level of academic achievement currently
being attained by many of the most disadvantaged
children in the North. Having said this they can
then get on with doing something about it. All of
the participants in this new assembly government,
if and when it comes about, will have the unique
opportunity of being able to truthfully proclaim,
“It was not us who were responsible for the
sorry mess in education but the British government.”
Thus even within the limitations of their power
as far as education is concerned, they have an opportunity
to serve the people of the North.
Unfortunately
there is a major flaw within the GFA that may make
these politicians behave true to past form. That
is, the agreement was set up along sectarian lines,
thus many of the north's politicians view their
main responsibility as being solely towards their
own community. Thus it is difficult, when the agreement
all but encourages it, not to see how pork barrelling
can be avoided. Still this is where SF has a great
opportunity if they are, as in the past, allocated
the Ministry of Education. If so they will have
a chance to prove that they have the interests of
the Unionist working class communities as much at
heart as they do the nationalist.
Finally
it is impossible to write about education in the
North without pointing out that 95% of Northern
Ireland schoolchildren are educated in segregated
schools, with all this implies for cross community
inter-relationships. In reality segregated mean
either Church of Ireland or Roman Catholic administered
schools. This has surly got to be challenged and
reduced rapidly. Incoming Education Ministers must
set targets of how, on this issue, change will come
about promptly. However one should not lose sight
of the fact with faith schools on the rise for political
reasons across the Irish Sea and the fact that any
incoming Assembly Education Ministers will almost
certainly have sent their own kids to the North's
segregated schools, is hardly a good omen for the
future as far as solving this problem is concerned.
Still, if we reach the stage of there being another
N.I. Government, in which the DUP and SF can co-exist
in office, all is surely to play for.
