Call to get more local teenagers to university.

THE proportion of students in North Solihull who are going on to attend university is still far smaller than across the borough as a whole, it has been revealed.
The gulf either side of the A45 in the number of 18-year-olds who go to study for a degree is significant, despite the fact that performance in primary and secondary schools has improved greatly over the course of the past decade.
Statistics quoted at the recent Full Council meeting laid bare the scale of the divide.
In Smith’s Wood, fewer than 10 per cent of teenagers are going to university, compared to more than 90 per cent in St Alphege (the council ward which includes Solihull town centre.)
Councillor Joe Tildesley, the cabinet member responsible for education, admitted the difference was “stark” and said that the council would do all it could to ensure that people in different parts of the borough had the same opportunities.
“Every single day all of us in this chamber have got to work to ensure we change that,” he said.
“There are amazingly outstanding children even at a challenging school… and we are making progress everyone. I’m sorry it’s taking so long, but we are making a difference to their lives.”
He paid tribute to the excellent work at many schools, but suggested that council members should not be afraid to bring pressure to bear where appropriate.
Chelmsley Wood councillor Chris Williams (Green) urged the council to consider commissioning a report specifically looking at ways to encourage more young people in North Solihull to continue into higher education.
“Of course university attendance isn’t the ‘be all and end all’ of life but that disparity that you pointed out is enormous.
“Where you were born and your parents’ income must not – and I know the cabinet member shares this with me – determine your life chances.”