England riots panel points to education
Source: Agencies |
March 29, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
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SCHOOLS that fail to teach children to read and write should face fines to improve an inadequate education system, a panel set up to draw lessons from riots that swept England's cities last year said yesterday.
The panel's report, presented to Prime Minister David Cameron, said there were half a million "forgotten families" who "bump along the bottom" of society and urged the government to develop a strategy to help them turn their lives around.
The panel identified a series of problems facing inner cities, ranging from poor parenting and education to high joblessness that left many with no stake in society and nothing to lose if they joined the riots. "When people don't feel they have a reason to stay out of trouble, the consequences for communities can be devastating - as we saw last August," panel chair Darra Singh said.
The Riots Communities and Victims Panel, set up by the government last year, spoke to riot victims and communities across the country to see what people affected by the riots believed led to them.
It said that up to 15,000 people took part in the riots, which broke out in north London but spread to other big cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, leaving five people dead.
Many young people the panel met expressed a "sense of hopelessness." Noting that a fifth of school leavers can only read at the level expected of an 11-year-old, the panel said schools that fail to teach children to read and write should face fines that would be used to pay for another school to bring them up to the required standard.
The panel's report, presented to Prime Minister David Cameron, said there were half a million "forgotten families" who "bump along the bottom" of society and urged the government to develop a strategy to help them turn their lives around.
The panel identified a series of problems facing inner cities, ranging from poor parenting and education to high joblessness that left many with no stake in society and nothing to lose if they joined the riots. "When people don't feel they have a reason to stay out of trouble, the consequences for communities can be devastating - as we saw last August," panel chair Darra Singh said.
The Riots Communities and Victims Panel, set up by the government last year, spoke to riot victims and communities across the country to see what people affected by the riots believed led to them.
It said that up to 15,000 people took part in the riots, which broke out in north London but spread to other big cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol, leaving five people dead.
Many young people the panel met expressed a "sense of hopelessness." Noting that a fifth of school leavers can only read at the level expected of an 11-year-old, the panel said schools that fail to teach children to read and write should face fines that would be used to pay for another school to bring them up to the required standard.
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