In a speech this week marking the start of his term of office, ATL President Andy Ballard has highlighted the scandal of child poverty in rural areas. Here is an extract from his speech….
“I’ve spent most of my working life with children in a relatively deprived area of Somerset. Amongst the pupils I taught were children from under-privileged homes.
“I am ashamed to say that some 30 years later, their children and even their grandchildren, pass through the school still experiencing similar levels of deprivation.
“The school and its staff work tirelessly, in accordance with government direction, to try to raise the aspirations of those pupils.
“And yet there still remain children living in systemically poor families – and I mean really poor, not just a bit short of the readies – under nourished, poorly housed, poorly clothed, culturally isolated and deprived.
“In rural communities, the lack of aspiration and opportunity is more acute. The lack of affordable housing and lack of well-paid work, forces young people and families to find homes and jobs away from rural areas, ultimately leading to the closure of playgroups, schools and youth services.
“”Children in families without cars face long journeys to school on infrequent and expensive public transport, leaving them little time for after-school activities.
“Children without families fare even worse.
“Poverty is the scourge of our society. It is unacceptable to me that children from poor families are treated as if they were feckless and idle, as if their poverty was their fault.
“These children must become our collective responsibility. Schools and their teachers can only achieve so much, and that’s why when ATL has been looking at rural poverty, we have called on the government to assess each and every one of its new initiatives against the impact it will have on rural communities.”
