Drop-outs at five? [Guardian.co.uk]
- Published: 13 October 2009
Many projects seek to identify potential school drop-outs early, and the latest targets five-year-olds. But should we be labelling children so young?
In a big, open warehouse space inside a smart, black glass and blue-framed building on a new industrial estate, a group of teenage boys are building walls with breeze-blocks and cement. In one of the walls ; finished earlier ; is a bare new wooden door with a wired glass panel. Just visible through the glass is an extraordinary scene. Four tiny figures ; three swathed in blue plastic overalls and one in pink ; are painting a wall.
This is Vox 4 Tots, and its creators believe it's the country's first vocational education scheme for pupils as young as five. With about 1,000 primary-age pupils now permanently excluded from schools each year, the programme aims to use early intervention to nip behavioural problems in the bud.
Full Story: http://www.guardian.co.uk
