“Schools should employ staff who have experienced poverty”
SP.A says employing people who have experienced social exclusion would help tackle the problems of disadvantaged pupils and generational poverty
First line of support
Students with a difficult socio-economic background are more at risk of falling behind in class and dropping out of school without a diploma. The pupil agencies, assistants for integrated education and care teachers currently help these students keep up.
According to Flemish MP Steve Vandenberghe (pictured), the policy is insufficient, and staff now mainly react to problems instead of working proactively.
He proposes employing experts with experience of poverty and social exclusion at schools, as a first line of support. With their practical experience, they can make the themes more understandable to other staff. They should also be able to pick up signs of problems more quickly, so action can be taken sooner.
“Reducing the mismatch between personal talents and the achieved diploma as consequence of a disadvantaged background should be an important way of battling generational poverty,” Vandenberghe said. “It’s often the most vulnerable students who graduate with the least advantageous diplomas, if they graduate at all.”
Photo courtesy Mbch331/Wikimedia Commons
