Making a Real Social Impact Part 1: The Pending Education Crash
A teacher shortage crisis, a century year old curriculum and a budgeting nightmare; the golden recipe for a doomed education system.
KNOWLEDGE
Educational statistics show our younger generation have deviated from society’s natural evolution- in fact they’re going backwards:
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English and Maths pass rates are at an all-time low. Every year, 100,00 pupils leave school functionally illiterate and 55.4% of SEN students do not achieve expected progress in reading, writing or maths.
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Youth mental health is at an all-time low. One third of students are currently avoiding school due to anxiety with many claiming that their mental health is harmed by the ‘dehumanising’ education system.
Why? There are multiple factors associated with the decline in academia including:
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1 in 8 schools were in financial deficit last year creating the inability to provide further support in terms of pastoral care, extracurricular activities, technology education etc.
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40,000 teachers resigned last year, with personal development training and wages limited due to funding constraints but continued added work pressures. This led to £698.1 million spent on supply teachers from 2022-23.
However, one of the most glaring problems preventing youth development in line with our evolving society is the curriculum. Despite experiencing the most significant societal transformation since the industrial revolution, schools persist in teaching a curriculum that has remained largely unchanged for over a century. It is a curriculum that doesn’t address the issues of the new society that we live in, one that ignores the challenges posed by social media and one that ill prepares our youth for technological advances of today. Perhaps a contributing factor to the 12.8% of 16-24-year-olds unemployment rate. So why has the curriculum remained unchanged? Who really knows, but I cannot help but question whether the continued teaching of an ineffective curriculum is driven more by financial constraints and the millions of pounds invested in outdated training, rather than educational efficacy.
The financial pressures schools are placed under appears to be the core reason our children are being failed. Every secondary school receives an average of £6000 per student; an amount to cover staff wages, equipment, trips and improve school standards. With the increasing cost of living, this amount does not leave any spare change to fund any additional support, for example: internal counselling and mental health support; mentoring and guidance on life skills; the dangers of social media, but also the potential of technology and it's advancements e.g., AI. There are so many areas, including modern advancement that the education system is failing to teach our children in, and during the current crisis, will continue to be unable to do so. But there is a missed opportunity here for organisations to step in and make a real social impact.
IMPACT
Organisations have a great opportunity to make a social change for younger generations by working with their employees and local schools. By offering time and knowledge, organisations can automatically support the education system with not only academia, but with mental health and wellbeing:
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Work Experience:
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Annual work experience weeks for employee's children during school holidays OR/AND partnerships with local schools. Real life experience should encourage children to problem solve, be creative and develop confidence . If possible, work experience should be hands on, deal with real work challenges and have a strong STEM focus.
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Free training/workshops delivered to local school teachers to encourage educational innovation. Training should provide teachers with the support and materials that could help them link education with real life work problems, proven to improve classroom engagement and motivation.
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Education & Wellbeing support:
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Coaching/Mentoring delivered by senior members of the organisation e.g., CEO / Director, providing motivation, inspiration and the reality of the journey to success.
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Private tuition/ subsidised tuition offered to employees as a work benefit. This could be delivered via virtual group sessions via a tuition partner, specific to employees children's needs. This is a benefit that would attract and retain talent.
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Access to online learning platforms in STEM modules. e.g., beginners guide to writing an email, beginners guide to AI, beginner guide to marketing etc.
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TACTIC
Social Value Model Example
With 42% of the UK population having dependant children, the failing education system is leading to a national crisis. It is not only having an impact on the academia and mental health of younger generations, but also the mental health of parents as they tackle the stresses associated with a 'failing' system.
At BeyondNow, we are committed to making a social impact, not just for the benefit of our employees, but to contribute to social change on a greater scale. Therefore, to help align the curriculum to evolving technologies and workplace needs, we will deliver annual workshops and programmes to both our employees children, and to teachers through local school partnerships. This will include:
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x2 weeks of hands on work experience offered and delivered every August to employees children aged 13+. Work experience will be led by department leads and cover areas:
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STEM e.g., the use of AI in the workplace, led by IT lead xx
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Field specific work experience e.g., solutions and bid writing (where possible) led by lead Bid Writer, xx
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x4, 1/2 day Training/workshops delivered to local school teachers throughout the year, encouraging educational innovation within the classroom. Workshops will cover xx...
We will also partner with local tuition provider xx, who will deliver x2 virtual tuition sessions weekly in core subjects English and Maths. We will provide our employees with a timetable detailing the content of these sessions ensuring that they are aware of the extra support available to their children. This will be monitored monthly where we will track attendance ensuring value for money.
In addition to traditional academic support, we will deliver wellbeing support through x2 annual motivational workshops. This will be delivered by our CEO and Director to year 10/11 students of local schools. Our company leader's will discuss their real life journey to success, their hardships and failures and the fundamental skills required to create a business. Through these workshops we hope to promote creativity and encourage the younger generation to develop new skills and resilience not only in preparation for the working world, but to motivate them to succeed.
Published by
Emma Smith
Co-Founder | Bid Writer