Universities access issue 'is wake-up call to society'

Group Political Editor

Tuesday 5 June 2012

THE small number of students from poor backgrounds accepted by Scotland's elite universities must be a wake-up call for a country that merely talks a good game on social mobility, according to a former First Minister.

Custom byline text:

Brian Currie Political Editor

The claim was made by Henry McLeish, chairman of the City of Glasgow College, who said Scotland was one of the most unequal societies in western Europe.

Mr McLeish hit out yesterday after NUS Scotland figures showed St Andrews University recruited only 13 students from the most deprived backgrounds, while Aberdeen could only muster 51 and Edinburgh 91.

He said: "This is yet another wake-up call not only to the universities but to everyone in Scotland who cares about the increasing impact of the lack of social justice, economic inequality and social mobility."Mr McLeish said the universities deserved criticism because they could be doing more to tackle the issue, but added it was a wider "cultural problem".He said Scotland and England were "the most unequal societies in western Europe and the more unequal the society is, the less well those from disadvantaged groups will do in a whole range of social and economic issues".Westminster's independent reviewer of social mobility, Alan Milburn, said last week social mobility in Britain had been "stagnant for far too long", and Mr McLeish said: "Scotland must make a choice about whether we actually want to be more like England, which is a very unequal society, or more like Scandinavia, more like Germany or some of the northern European states, where this level of inequality is not accepted as part of the culture.""It's part of the DNA of Scotland to talk a good game about tackling social inequality issues, but our achievements fail to match the rhetoric."In terms of leadership this is a big wake-up call that, unless and until we make these changes, we will be like England and in my view I'd rather be like Scandinavia than England as far as education is concerned."We cannot build a nation's future in a situation where one-fifth of our citizens live on or below the poverty line. "That means a massive number of people being disadvantaged and what it means for the nation is that we're wasting an enormous amount of talent through not giving people proper opportunities."Mr McLeish urged the Scottish Government to focus more on social mobility, possibly even to set up a special unit to deal with the problem.He also criticised policies which have seen cuts in college budgets of £69 million.As chairman of the college, which has 40,000 students, he said it was dealing with people who had major literacy and numeracy problems and "something very substantial, very radical" was needed.The former First Minister said: "We have cut back on education but we don't cut back on health. This is a time for all governments to reconsider their cutbacks in education because we can't cut back the way we're doing and expect socially disadvantaged children getting to university."A St Andrews University spokesman claimed yesterday that "proportionately we make more offers to students from deprived backgrounds than any other group" and that the top universities were "open and accessible to all".He added that getting more students from deprived backgrounds into them required "a concerted effort on health, employment, housing and a culture of attainment at all levels of Scottish education to equip young people with the grades they need to gain entry and to succeed at university".An Edinburgh University spokesman added: "We are committed to the principles of educational opportunity, increasing diversity and equal opportunities for all prospective and current students."

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Universities access issue 'is wake-up call to society'

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED