Poverty and Education

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This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.

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Hello, I'm Dan.

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And I'm Alice.

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And this is 6 Minute English.

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Today we're talking about a new report that examines how poverty can affect education.

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The report from the Organisation for Economic Co -operation and Development,

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or OECD,

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studies whether there is an inevitable link between wealth

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and academic performance.

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You'd think that children from poorer backgrounds perform less well at

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school than children from richer backgrounds.

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Right, Alice?

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S… Speaker 2 (Poverty and Education)

Well that makes sense.

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If you're from a disadvantaged background then the odds are

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stacked against you.

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You're less likely to succeed because the situation is unfavourable.

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But the OECD report says that in certain countries children

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from poorer backgrounds are more likely to achieve good grades and do well academically despite

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having the odds stacked against them.

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So it's easier for poorer school students or pupils to

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achieve high grades in some countries rather than others then,

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S… Speaker 1 (Poverty and Education)

Dan?

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Exactly.

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They achieve against the odds.

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For example,

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poorer children in Canada and Japan are more likely to achieve good grades than

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poor children in the UK.

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There's a more level playing field in those countries than in Britain.

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S… Speaker 2 (Poverty and Education)

That's a good phrase.

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A level playing field.

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It comes from sport.

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If you're playing on a level playing field,

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it's a fair situation for everybody.

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So where are poorer pupils most likely to do well then,

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Dan?

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Ah, well,

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that's this week's question,

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actually, Alice.

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Which country do you think came top in the OECD list

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for pupils doing well,

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even when the odds are stacked against them?

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Was it A,

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Finland,

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B,

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Canada, or C,

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South Korea?

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And I'll guess Finland.

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Well,

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we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme.

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Now let's hear from Professor Yvonne Kelly from the University of Essex.

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She specialises in how economic factors can influence childhood development.

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Here she is talking about her research in the UK.

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What factors does she say could be affected by different levels of family income?

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We compared levels of family income

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with the likelihood of children having social and emotional difficulties

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and also their cognitive ability skills.

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So the research compared levels of family income,

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that's how much money a family earns,

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with the likelihood of children having social and emotional difficulties.

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Social here refers to how people live and work together,

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and emotional refers to how the children react to their feelings.

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So the income of a family could affect whether the children

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have social and emotional difficulties.

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And the research also looked at children's cognitive ability skills.

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That's the way children learn.

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Cognitive is a scientific term that refers to how we process information.

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And what were the findings of this research then,

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Dan? Well,

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Professor Kelly says that children from low -income families were more likely to show symptoms of social

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and emotional difficulties.

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She says they can be more fidgety,

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restless and clingy.

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Could you explain some of these terms for us,

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Alice? Sure.

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S… Speaker 2 (Poverty and Education)

Well,

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to fidget means to make small,

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quick movements in a nervous way.

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So fidgety means moving nervously.

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Being restless means you're unable to relax.

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And clingy,

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well, here it means that the child doesn't want to be separated from their parents.

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OK,

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let's listen to Professor Kelly again.

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How many times more likely were children from poorer backgrounds to suffer from social and emotional

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difficulties?

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S… Speaker 3 (Poverty and Education)

Children from the poorest households were between seven and eight times more

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likely to have social and emotional difficulties,

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things like being excessively fidgety,

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restless,

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clingy,

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compared to their better -off counterparts.

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So children from poorer backgrounds were seven or eight times more likely to

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be fidgety,

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restless and clingy than their better -off counterparts.

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S… Speaker 2 (Poverty and Education)

Better off here means richer and a counterpart is

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a person who's at the same level or who does the same job.

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So the better off counterparts here are children of the same

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age who are from richer backgrounds.

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But Dan,

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did you say that some countries have less of a divide between the grades of

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richer pupils and poorer pupils than other countries?

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That's right.

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Although there's a strong link between family income and how well pupils perform at school,

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the report says that the education systems in some countries are more likely to help

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students from poorer backgrounds develop self -confidence and motivation to succeed.

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OK,

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so don't keep me waiting,

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Dan. Which countries are they?

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Well,

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I can tell you that South Korea...

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Finland, Japan,

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Turkey and Canada are the most successful countries in terms of poorer

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pupils achieving high results.

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But today's question was which country came top in the OECD

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list for poorer students getting higher grades?

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Was it A,

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Finland?

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B.

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Canada or C.

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South Korea.

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S… Speaker 2 (Poverty and Education)

And I said Finland?

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S… Speaker 1 (Poverty and Education)

Well,

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in fact,

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it was South Korea.

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In fact,

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the top five places by regional and national school systems are all in Asia.

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South Korea leads the countries and Shanghai,

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Hong Kong,

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Macau and Singapore are also in the top five.

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France,

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Australia and the US are around average for pupils succeeding against the odds

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and the UK is unfortunately well below average.

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Well, Alice,

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before we go,

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let's hear some of the words and phrases we've used in today's programme.

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OK.

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Thanks, Alice.

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I hope you've enjoyed today's programme and you'll join us again for more 6 Minute English

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next time.

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S… Speaker 1 (Poverty and Education)

Bye!

Poverty and Education

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