Education system 'failing' children in care
Wednesday, 23 Aug 2006 05:55
Children in care do not perform as well as their peers at school, says Barnardo's
Thousands of children in care are being failed by the state education system, with almost eight out of ten gaining no qualifications, a new report has warned.
Children's charity Barnardo's claims that the 80,000 children currently in care in the UK are caught in a "cycle of disadvantage" which prevents them from achieving their full potential.
The Barnardo's survey of 600 16 to 21-year-olds using its leaving care services found that just one in ten had achieved five or more GCSEs at grade C or above.
The charity's Failed by the System report said that in contrast, a separate opinion poll of 500 parents, whose children were cared for in a stable family environment, found that three quarters of those questioned expected their offspring to achieve at least those results when they took their exams this year.
Barnardo's said that children in care were at an added disadvantage to many of their peers when studying for GCSEs because they often experienced repeated school changes, multiple care placements and a general lack of support in their academic careers.
Almost half of those questioned by Barnardo's said they had attended six or more schools, while half had also been in more than four care placements.
Four out of ten of those in care said no-one had attended their school parents' evenings and more than half reported that they had been bullied at school as a direct result of being in care.
More than half of the care leavers confirmed that they were not currently in employment or any form of training or education.
Meanwhile, of those parents questioned as part of the research, 58 per cent said their child had never moved home, 96 per cent had attended parents' evenings and just six per cent were expecting their child to leave school with no qualifications.
Commenting on the lack of support for those in care, Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey said: "The cycle of disadvantage that haunts these children as they grow up shows no sign of being broken as they enter adulthood."
"Our report shows that many looked after children have both academic potential and the desire to work hard, and would have liked to succeed in education but the state, as a parent, fails them terribly."
"Dreadful GCSE results compound the disadvantages they face and commit them to unemployment and long term disadvantage," he added.
A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said the government acknowledged that children in care underachieved significantly and that they needed to be placed in schools according to their needs.
He stressed that the education and inspections bill would help children in care to fulfill their potential by giving local authorities the power to require schools to admit pupils outside the normal admissions round.
"This will form a key part of a wider package of reforms to be published in our forthcoming green paper, which will be designed to help ensure looked-after children realise their fullest potential," added the spokesman.