Working-class children falling through cracks in school, teacher claims

4 April 2021, 11:30

Teacher's worries on class disparity, working-classes have harder time

This caller claimed that working-class boys are being left behind from an early age because of a lack of support in schools.

Jo is a teacher and she phoned Natasha Devon from Farnham to share her experience of social mobility, and highlighted the difficulties for working-classes in the UK.

"Until I became middle class, I didn't realise what middle class parents do for their children," she revealed.

The caller explained that it wasn't an issue of ignorance in working-class communities, "they just don't know what they don't know," and people are not offered support.

"They reach a stage where they don't know how to get their working-class child into middle-class professions."

Jo went on to explain that a child's formative years are crucial for their later development and a failure of state in both educating parents and children has left working-class children behind.

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"They need professionally trained people to help the children," the teacher claimed. She also insisted that "we should have parental advisers in primary schools" to help with social mobility and reduce class sizes to "dedicate time to all children."

Natasha supported the views of the caller, adding that all her recommendations were "super important" to ensure the progression of children in and out of education.

The caller went on to state that "girls are more perceptive of the unwritten rules of life" and this leaves working-class boys in the lurch.

"Schools are absolutely a middle-class environment," she said, claiming it to be unfair that children are judged "on how middle-class their parents were from 0-5."