Breaking Barriers in Education and Social Justice

Imagine being denied an education simply because of who you are. Aquayemi Claude Akinsanya's journey from exclusion to advocacy is a testament to resilience and the power of fighting for change. This episode sheds light on his personal story, where systemic injustice fueled his passion for policy reform in education and social justice. We explore the intertwined nature of health and education, discuss racial disparities, and highlight the pressing issue of chronic underfunding in these sectors. Aquayemi insights provide a compelling narrative on how inequalities and gatekeeping mechanisms affect access to educational support, and we compare these issues within the contexts of the UK and the United States.

Our in-depth conversation extends to the structural challenges within special education systems. How does the lack of a written constitution in the UK create gaps in accountability and quality in education? Antonio provides a critical analysis of how wealth disparities further skew educational access, particularly disadvantaging minority ethnic students in less affluent areas. We also address the lengths some families must go to in order to secure quality education for their children, often needing to move outside their local catchment areas. This episode underscores the urgent need for systemic reforms to uphold education as a universal human right, providing an insightful and thought-provoking discussion on the way forward.

Chapters

• 0:00 Improving Access to Education
• 19:31 Challenges in Education System Accountability
• 30:41 Appreciation for Support and Collaboration

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I'm back now.

Speaker 2: 0:02

Hello and welcome to Access Chat. I'm delighted that we're joined today by Akiyemi Claude Akinsanya. Akiyemi Claude is a social justice campaigner and also an environmentalist at the intersection of neurodiversity, special educational needs, and is really focused on social justice, and you're based in Richmond Park in the UK, which is my old stomping ground, so welcome. Now, that's quite a mix of topics that we've got there, so can you give us a bit more about the background and how you came to be working on this sort of broad array of topics? Thank you.

Speaker 1: 0:49

Sure. Well, thank you very much and thank you for having me, and it's a pleasure to be in this space with you all. So my pronouns he, him and I started my innovation of my activism and social campaigning in my own challenges of being denied an education since 2017. I've also found and seen from data, data, research, the severe disparities when it comes to social justice, inclusion and diversity, and found that it was really important to bring a new initiative of change and looking at policy and the importance of why individuals are being denied an education, why we have this social injustice in society, and for something must be done. Even I have my own disabilities, of hidden and complex abilities. It's so important we're able to be a voice where we are, from our communities, to fight and make sure that everyone's voice and story is being acknowledged, and this is why I decided to take up the role.

Speaker 2: 2:07

So thank you, and you say you were excluded from education. Did you then go into a self-education process? Because I know from my own experience working in the neurodiversity arena that it's not uncommon for people with special educational needs and neurodivergent profiles to end up falling out of the traditional school system, and this is not because people lack intelligence, it's because of the strictures of the way that we educate, and I think there's some understanding in terms of how people who are neurodivergent and different neurotypes want to learn and want to be included in school. So was that your experience or were there other factors at play here? And and what are you advocating in in um in terms of how we might change that?

Speaker 1: 3:16

so, yes, thanks for giving that angle and that in-depth information, because what it is is that there is that issue, but there's also another issue where education is being combined and interlinked with health, and there is also the other element of racial injustice. And there's also the other element of lack of investment going into these areas, where what we see is investment is going into international matters and not really home affairs matters, which you probably heard of the discussion I don't know if any of you have heard where they say there is a black hole of investment in special educational needs. There is this black hole. However, the parents would say, and the students would probably say why did you not inform us of this black hole? For example?

Speaker 1: 4:09

And yes, you could say that I was a student who was neglected because they didn't want to invest in me. They didn't want to invest in my success or my ability and also my there was always this factor of trying to cut costs, trying to find ways of loopholes, to try and make less of the investment into education and put it into other areas. So the student has to deal with the element where they're thinking how come the investment's not going into my education and then find that other things are going on in the background. So these are the problems why people are being non-educated, unfortunately, and this has been an experience that I found throughout my education process.

Speaker 2: 4:57

So I'm sure Deborah has a question. I just from a context from a UK point of view. Access to funding and support requires a statement and it requires the local draw on specialists that are in short supply. And without that clear statement, the council is not obliged to provide support by, you know, because councils are massively underfunded and they have to be the ones providing for the schools apart from the academy schools. It means that corners are cut and people don't get the kind of provision that they should be entitled to. I know that there's lots of gatekeeping in education in the US as well, and I can see you looking puzzled, deborah. I am puzzled.

Speaker 3: 6:09

I am very puzzled because I will tell you, I don't understand, in a way, what we're talking about. And so let me tell you what I think you're saying. But I hope y'all aren't doing this in the UK, because if you're a student with disabilities in the United States, you get included and you have the right to get an IEP, an individualized education plan. You have quite a bit of rights here in the United States. I'm not saying we get it right, because we definitely don't, but we, we would never be denied. I mean, we're denied education, but it's different, right? So we go in there, we think we get it.

Speaker 3: 6:50

It's more that we don't know how to properly educate our students with disabilities in the United States. And I'm going to say that because I've experienced that many times. But even with my daughter that had an intellectual or cognitive disability, with Down syndrome, I felt often that she was just being babysat and I really wanted them to. You know, and so I understand. So I'm a little confused because it sounds like it sounds much differently, done differently, the way we do it here in the United States. But this is also a global show, so I'm sure other countries are maybe perplexed as well. But so can y'all just give me a little bit of context? I apologize.

Speaker 2: 7:36

It's not that we don't have rights. Right, the rights are enshrined in law to a large extent, so there are education, health and and care plans, which are the things that replace the statements of special educational needs. The issue is actually accessing the, the professionals that can define what you need, in order to then get that from the council, from the councils and the education authorities, because you know there is such a scarcity in terms of access to people that, even though you have rights, your rights are essentially denied to you by a scarcity.

Speaker 3: 8:19

So students don't get educated? What?

Speaker 1: 8:21

Wow, yeah.

Speaker 1: 8:24

So what's happened is there's been a recent data that shows the amount of parents and families that have had to home educate their children, and also this factor where the parents don't even get supported within the home education because of the local authority relying on the responsibility of the parent in some cases, and what you have is, as Neil has just highlighted, is you have a educational health care plan that's supposed to follow through with the student, but what's been happening in some cases as well, is the local authority would do like these annual, yearly uh reviews, but it's more reviews that are cost-cutting than really continuing to support that student.

Speaker 1: 9:18

And this is where, of course, in different countries, there are different ways of education system, different ways of education, but in the UN and the UN policies, education is a human right, so of course, we shouldn't really have this issue in the UK. However, this is where I've seen that there's been this more element of commodity and treating a student as a number than treating a student as a student to do well and support them when they already have the difficulties that they have them when they already have the difficulties that they have.

Speaker 4: 9:58

Do you have?

Speaker 1: 9:59

any statistics on the number of people affected nationally. Well, what I know is from what we've seen is one in five individuals would be neurodiverse or have a hidden disability, and the last statistic that we found is the amount of students that are out of education is the same geographic of the map of Germany. So that's a severe kind of finding that we found and really it's concerning because basically, the numbers are increasing more than decreasing.

Speaker 4: 10:40

So, on your campaigning, what do you aim for? Do you aim for this to be managed centrally, Because in other countries it's up to the Ministry of Education to take care of almost everyone the local schools or the local councils. They have no responsibility of the education because that is centralised. What do you aim for? A resolution here.

Speaker 1: 11:06

Sure. So, first and foremost, our slogan is let's change the narrative. We've been in this circle of repeat scenarios for some time. It's for local authorities to be regulated. They are not regulated in the UK, which is very concerning. It is also for lifelong learning no matter what age you are, you are, you are able to still be educated, to still like, gain back those years of neglected education. Also, the importance of awareness when it comes to disability, to empower individuals of their abilities and what we believe is everybody has a signature, uniqueness. This is their ability and being empowered. But also we need to make sure that the people who are in these jobs are doing their jobs, and I think you know this is where the problem starts, because if you've got a manager that's not aware of what the people below are doing, then these are where the structural problems come, and I think it all goes back to this hierarchy the gatekeeping element and also the element where you've got citizens that are being oppressed and don't know how to navigate through these processes and know their rights. It's so important that citizens and students know their rights as well. Another element and context I can give for the audience and the people who are on this call today is where you go from primary to secondary. It's important that the transfer is smooth and that it goes through lawfully than unlawfully.

Speaker 1: 12:58

Some families have faced that the transfer has not been smooth and then this is brought kind of back to where the local authorities would like to dictate families when it comes to their placements and not really listen to what the family and children may feel is best for their needs when it comes to, like support, when it comes to TA, which is a teacher assistant to give context, and that kind of importance of investment to nurture the child's development throughout education.

Speaker 1: 13:28

For example, in my situation, it was the fact that I went to college. When I finished college in 2017, I was, you could say, full. I fell through the net, and I fell through the net in the fact that the local authority thought it wasn't a responsibility to make sure that I had a smooth transition from college to further education or higher education. In my situation, I wanted to still continue further education, just to develop my skills a bit, because I didn't feel confident at the time. But now I've made sure I'm luckily in that kind of element where you know I hopefully might continue and I would like to be given an opportunity to continue my education. So that is the kind of context. I hope that gives clarity.

Speaker 4: 14:23

I'm sure also that all local authorities work differently. Do you see local authorities who recognize this as a problem and they can somehow become allies of what you aim, or you see them as becoming obstacles in relation to this?

Speaker 1: 14:44

I think we have great case models on an international level. In the UK point of view, I see that local authorities will more think of the kind of commodity element than the student element, and this is what I think really needs to change. I think our leadership processes and kind of structures are very outdated and not really following policy, and this has been a very concerning point of view from my outlook and from others that I've also shared discussions with.

Speaker 2: 15:24

So give a bit more context and I know Deborah will want to come in again but some of this is down to the, the systemic issues around the funding of of councils, because what's happened over the last couple of parliaments is that the central government money that goes to local authorities has been cut really very significantly. So so and at the same time, local councils have been constrained from raising money from local taxation. So that means that budgets have been slashed and burned. So, rather than delivering services to the local population, councils are desperately trying to balance the books, which means that the focus is always on how can we save money, it's not on how can we better serve, it's on how can we balance the books.

Speaker 2: 16:20

To give you an example Woking Borough Council Woking Council, which is the next council for me I have lived, a couple of miles from Woking is bankrupt. The council has actually gone bankrupt. Working is bankrupt. The council has actually gone bankrupt. Uh, so so the, the lack of money, is a trigger for the. You know the lack of empathy and the lack of support and and everything else. So there are really big systemic issues. And then this is what amClaude was talking about in terms of focus outside of the country rather than on internal issues, because we we've spent money on other things, but we haven't prioritized local services and education in the same way, and then, when we have prioritized education, it's all been around a very specific idea of what education looks like.

Speaker 1: 17:21

And then also to add on to that and thank you, neil, for that clarity and context To add on to that, I think where we, if somebody asked, where did we go wrong, I think we need to look at the seed of where we went wrong, for example, example. So imagine a flower and that process of that flower and it starts from the seed. I would say, for example, as like a social justice campaigner in regards to an example case, would be like the small boat situation with the net migration issue that we have in the UK, for example, we found that investments going into that other than, of course, home affairs, but people would say what was the problem and what caused that issue? If leaders might as well left countries alone and not cause civil unrest or, you know, mass destruction, then people wouldn't be fleeing from their countries to look for a better life or a better existence, where basically there are also in crisis situations.

Speaker 1: 18:25

But it's like you got the blind helping the blind, unfortunately, and you got this situation where governancy is at an all-time low, unfortunately, and I think you know where we hear about local authorities going bankrupt. Well, my question is is why did not the local authorities, inform the parents, say we can both take on the government, for example, to say why are you making us go bankrupt, for example, and then kind of ratifying the situation immediately that it doesn't get worse. And I think this is where we've seen a lot. In lot of situations, things get worse because people are not talking or being transparent. Transparency and that ability to deliver immediate action is utmost of importancy, I would say.

Speaker 3: 19:19

Yeah, I think I'm just a little bit stunned because I can't believe that local authorities, they go bankrupt because you're talking about education. But I mean, once again, we do stuff like this in the States too. We have to. Ours are just other stupid stuff. You know, we have to sue our school system sometimes to make sure that our children with special needs are educated properly. So we have our own ridiculous ways of doing it.

Speaker 3: 19:48

But the thing that just really, you know, really is chilling to all of us, I'm sure, is that the students are the ones that pay the price. I mean, the families certainly are horribly stressed and everything else, but it's the students and then thus society, because we educate people so that, you know, we can all you know, participate and help the world be a better place. So it's you just have opened my eyes to. I did not understand it worked like that, and so then it also, and I'm a global expert. But the reality is nobody can know all of this stuff. But it makes me wonder what other countries are experiencing with these kind of things as well. Antonio, I know that you wanted to come in, so let me turn it over and give you the mic.

Speaker 2: 20:45

We have a slight mic delay.

Speaker 4: 20:52

We know that, in terms of responsibilities, some countries have a written constitution that you can say here it is, you need to follow this. So do you think that the fact that there's no really a written constitution in the UK makes this difficult in order to call for responsibility of the local councils and to demand justice in terms of your rights?

Speaker 1: 21:18

You brought up a wonderful point and I was just going to refer to what Deborah said to interlink your point as well, antonio.

Speaker 1: 21:26

So I think we have to hold individuals and the local authorities accountable.

Speaker 1: 21:33

I think the idea of how America uses the suing element is a key element to refer to, and I think other measures as well, because I think you know the amount of scandals we've had, for example, in the UK, is beyond comprehension and I think it is time that we have, like you know, regulators, processes where it's more in favor of citizens and students and ensuring that, for example, as I was referring to earlier, education is a human right.

Speaker 1: 22:12

So if it's a human right, it needs to really be acknowledged as a human right in the UK, because at the moment I feel, as a country, regional representative for global network of Persons with Disabilities and a social justice campaign, I am concerned of where our social justice and human rights currently is and I am doing my utmost of horrific stories, but I've also wanted to spotlight their stories, for example, on my podcast, to inform others of what is really going on. So it's about informing, spotlighting but also holding individuals accountable to make sure that they are doing the job that they need to do for the rights of students and families. Excellent point.

Speaker 2: 23:07

So I think, you know, uk is pretty peculiar in the fact that it doesn't have a written constitution, and we've seen over the last few years the challenges that that have caused us when we've had politicians that don't follow the norms. And Deborah's rolling her eyes for those of you that are listening to the podcast and not watching, because there's some similarity there between us and the us but yes, but what was considered to be, you know, convention, uh, and, and the way that things are done around here starts to break down, um, and and so that then you know that you then don't have that same level of accountability. I think we're at a very interesting moment because this time next week everybody will be voting in the UK, so we're recording this on a Friday, and the Friday, the 4th of July, will be Independence.

Speaker 1: 24:23

Day in the.

Speaker 3: 24:23

United.

Speaker 2: 24:23

States and maybe from you guys depending on your political viewpoint, also an opportunity for independence from the current political incumbents in the UK.

Speaker 2: 24:37

So it's- a you know, an inflection point within our country and our governance. That said, I don't think that that will immediately lead to a change in the political structures, but it might change in terms of some of the attitudes. But it certainly highlighted the fact that not having that clear formal framework creates ambiguity and room for behaviors that many people thought would be beyond the pale previously. If we may go back to a point that you raised right at the beginning, which was about you know, the sort of the patchiness and the access to justice as well, because if you were saying that people need to be able to understand and know about their rights and everything else, so what we find is that certain areas are wealthier to begin with than others, and that means that they're able to raise more money for the local authorities generally, so they're better funded, there's more facilities and everything else. Those wealthier areas people are also more likely to know about what their rights are and how to advocate for their children.

Speaker 4: 26:05

People who are in less wealthy areas that tend to be from minority ethnic backgrounds have at least a double deficit in terms of their access to special educational needs support so just and make a kind of a parallel so if you live in a healthy, in a wealthy area, you have access to more resources, and that goes from having access to better education to have better roads, to have maybe a better water system. Would that be somehow the line?

Speaker 2: 27:04

you think so? You would think so, although I live in a wealthy area and our roads are terrible. So, um, actually, some of the best roads in the uk are in some of our poorest areas, because they were funded by the european union and they haven't fallen apart yet even though we visit the european union. But apart from that, yes, you're right, um, you know you have better access to better education, better facilities and all the rest of it. Sorry over to you, you're about to come in.

Speaker 1: 27:31

No problem. No problem, um, that is it to a nutshell. Um, the thing I was also going to add is you find that certain local authorities or areas, parents would have to travel out of the catchment for quality of education. So, for example, in my situation I found that local offer which the local authority likes to promote to families wasn't the best situation because basically, when I was younger I had a bad experience and that was where I had my own experience of bullying. So I found that going out of the catchment and traveling to a more kind of place of placement which, um, meeting my needs, was much more of a way that I was able to do well and kind of develop my skills. Of course, this was a problem for the local authority because I did not want to pay for my transport, they didn't want to pay for the additional resources. So this is the kind of parallel challenges you face in the UK, for example.

Speaker 1: 28:43

But we also have this issue where even our politics just to kind of give a bit of context, it's very much of a first postal vote system which is a red blue kind of rival, and that also brings an issue where local communities feel that there is. You know, the roads that are in bad conditions, for example. They find a difference of kind of delivery to also non-delivery when it comes to certain things, even in the richer areas sometimes. But I think it's this factor where really, people are calling for a new voting system. They're calling for new change, but they also want to call for equity when it comes to those elements, because they don't want their vote wasted.

Speaker 1: 29:33

For example, at the moment, we have a party called Labour and we have a party called Conservative. It's more than likely going to look like that Labour's going to be coming to government by next week. However, the youth and the amount of young persons with disabilities their voice isn't been included and they feel like they deserve better, because they feel like they've been left out and where they want a different vision and they don't feel that Labour or Conservative are serving for them. This is where the kind of short fall disparities come. So these are the issues, including that kind of element where disability and we have this disability system called DLD is marring people with hidden and visible and trying to basically make sure they don't get support or investment as well, and these are the issues that are going on behind closed doors thank you so much for your time today, Akiyemi-Claude.

Speaker 2: 30:41

It's been a really interesting discussion. I really look forward to us having further interactions and looking into this topic further on Twitter. So once again, thank you very much for your time today.

Speaker 1: 30:57

Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2: 30:59

And I forgot to say and also thank you to our sponsors and friends, amazon and MyClearText, for keeping us on air and keeping us captioned.

Speaker 3: 31:07

We are grateful, and we're grateful for you too, today.

Speaker 1: 31:13

Thank you to the people behind the scenes and everyone who's working hard. It's amazing. Thank you.