Equality and education: argument for a special provision in the Constitution promoting equality of access to, and participation in, education

Kathleen Lynch

For a variety of historical and other reasons, the creation of wealth in Irish society is heavily dependent for the foreseeable future on the quality of education provided across all sectors of the economy. Moreover, knowledge, and increasingly the credentialised knowledge provided by formal education, is a major form of capital in its own right. Because of the central role which knowledge plays in determining the generation of wealth, it is extremely important that all people have access to education, and can participate in and benefit from it on equal terms so that they are not excluded from it on equal terms so that they are not excluded from the process of wealth generation in society. As the Annual School Leavers Surveys conducted by the Department of Labour show that there is a positive correlation between the level of education attained and employment opportunities (the higher the level of education attained, the higher one's chances of getting employment), people who leave school without any formal credentials are severely disadvantaged in the labour market. Equality of educational opportunity is important from an individual labour market standpoint therefore, as access to paid employment is increasingly tied to level of education attained.

Education is also of crucial importance for both personal development and for the development of civil society. It is essential for the development of all the social, cultural, and political institutions which contribute to the creation of an inclusive, dynamic and integrated democratic state. Also, the failure to equalise access, participation and benefit to education means that much of the talent and ability available in society is under-utilised and alienation and detachment develops among those who are excluded from participation.

Despite the increased population by all social groups in education over the last thirty years, there are still major differences in both access to education, and participation within it, based on social class. The analysis of School Leavers Surveys for 1991-93 shows that only just over half (52.5%) of the young people from unskilled manual backgrounds reach Leaving Certificate level while over 95% of those from professional backgrounds reach this stage (Higher Education Authority, Report of the Steering Committee on the Future of Higher Education, Dublin, 1995, Table 12). A similar pattern obtains at third level. Professor Clancy's study, Access to College: Patterns of Continuity and Change, Higher Education Authority, Dublin, shows that while there has been an increase in the rate of participation in higher education by all social groups in the last twelve years, disparities in participation based on social class are still considerable: 38% of all higher education come from the four highest socioeconomic groups although these only constitute 21% of the relevant population while just 35% of entrants come from the five lowest socioeconomic groups although these constitute almost 56% of the relevant age cohort. The contrast in participation rates at the upper and lower end of the class continuum are, however, much greater with 89% of the children of higher professional parents going on to higher education compared with just 14% of those from unskilled and semi-skilled manual backgrounds (Clancy, op cit, pp 154-5).

In view of both the importance of education in determining access to the labour market, and its crucial importance for the personal development of the individual and the social, cultural and political development of society, there is a need for a provision promoting equality in education in the Constitution. Without such a protection there is no clear requirement on the Government or the legislature to disburse funds between individuals in education in an equitable manner. At present those who have most private resources can benefit most from all forms of education because their families can bear both the direct and indirect costs that prolonged participation in education demands. What this means in effect is that those with most private resources benefit most from State education investment because the cost of education provision rises as one moves from first to third level (see Tussing, 'Equity in the Financing of Education', in S Kennedy One Million Poor, Turoe Press, Dublin 1981). Given that there is already a provision in the Constitution protecting the ownership and transfer of wealth (via the various protection for private property) it is in the interests of balance that there would be a provision promoting equality of access to and participation in education as education is now seen by many as playing a crucial role in determining access to the labour market and thereby access indirectly to wealth via wages, salaries and related benefits (see Breen, Education, Employment and Training in the Youth Labour Market, ESRI, Paper No 152, Dublin 1991; Conference of Religious of Ireland, Justice Commission, (1994) Tackling Poverty, Unemployment and Exclusion, Dublin 1994; National Anti-Poverty Strategy, Poverty Social Exclusion and Inequality in Ireland, Discussion Paper prepared by the Inter-Departmental Policy Committee, Dublin 1995)

The suggested wording for a constitutional provision on equality in education might be:

The State will promote equality of access to, and participation in education

or

The State will promote equality of opportunity in education