Young people in care need more help with education, Northern Irish minister claims

There should be a greater emphasis on the educational needs of
young people in care, according to Northern Ireland’s minister for
health and social services Bairbre de Brun, writes
Clare Jerrom.

As Barnardo’s launched a report on its research into the
educational attainments of children in care, ‘Better Education,
Better Futures,’ de Brun said: “Every child and every young person
who is taken into public care has a right to equal educational
opportunities.

“Unfortunately all available evidence suggests that until quite
recently, those children looked after by social services –
whether in residential or foster care – were less likely to
have the same educational attainment as other young people,” she
said.

The Barnardo’s research into education services for young people
in care throughout the UK concludes that overall there are signs
that social services and education authorities are beginning to
improve the structures to support the education of children in the
care system.

The minister said her department and the department of education
have initiated a project which will collect information on the
educational attainment of all children who have been in care for
over a year.

“I hope and believe that we shall be able to draw on all of this
work to put in train practicable arrangements, which will secure a
better future for the children and young people who experience our
care system,” de Brun said.