The Right to social justice has addressed the principle of inclusion?Explain
Answers
Within all contemporary societies there are groups that struggle to gain
equality of opportunity and social justice in national educational systems.
Research has shown that education systems can be key in perpetuating or
curtailing educational disadvantages for marginalized individuals and groups
(e.g. Troyna and Hatcher 1992; Foster et al. 1996). There has also been exten-
sive critical debate about the effects of special education on its pupils (e.g.
Slee 1996; Pijl et al. 1997; Vlachou 1997), while the effects of educational
disadvantage and underperformance have been well documented (Tomlinson
2000).
In 1994 the UK government commissioned a report on social justice (Social
Justice Commission 1994), which uncovered an uncomfortable situation.
Despite 50 years of educational reform, the education system continued to
fail the great majority of children. Even today, the UK has the lowest level
of educational provision for under-5s in the European Union, while the
average state primary class size is 27 pupils (DfES 2002). In private schools
the ratio is halved. Despite government attempts to raise participation, only
two in five of Britain’s 19-year-olds is still in full-time education (YCS 2001)
and, disturbingly, two-thirds of school leavers reported their main immediate
destination to be employment (HESA 2001). Universities are still mainly
accessed by pupils from economically advantaged families and private
schools, and recent proposals to increase fees for university education are
unlikely to reverse this trend. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, a
person’s life chances are even more powerfully affected by their education
than in the past.