Class gap divides Adelaide students

MORE than half of Adelaide’s Year 7 students who score below-average numeracy results live in low socioeconomic suburbs, a groundbreaking report reveals.

Commissioned by the Education Department, the study is the first of its kind to detail the gap in outcomes for students in disadvantaged areas and finds the “most marked” shortfall in remote areas of the state.

It finds 177 of the 318 metropolitan Year 7 students with below-average numeracy scores are from the northern region. This compares with only 12 in the eastern region, 44 in the west and 85 in the south. Report co-author John Glover said the study, which used 2008 national literacy and numeracy data, revealed “big challenges to the public education system”. He said the report demonstrated “hard cold facts” children in low socioeconomic areas had the “lowest education outcomes and poorest achievement”.

SA Council of Social Services executive director Ross Womersley said socioeconomic status was linked to poor educational performance, but the issue was “much more complicated”.

He said the poor education of some parents and their inability to aid their children’s development also played a role.

“Low income does correlate, at least in some part, with people having poor educational outcomes,” Mr Womersley said.

“There are still people within that survey group and areas of the state where there would be people on quite low incomes who are managing one way or another to help their children get reasonable educational outcomes.”

The report Understanding Educational Opportunities and Outcomes is a project between the University of Adelaide’s Public Health Information Development Unit and The Smith Family.

It has found that disadvantaged suburbs where students failed in literacy and numeracy included Elizabeth, Onkaparinga, Port Adelaide, Port Augusta and the APY Lands.

Peers in inner-city areas including Burnside, Unley and Walkerville fared much better.

Source: Adelaide Now