What is Pupil Equity?
Equity is an extension of equality. Equality focuses on ensuring students are presented with the same educational opportunities. However, equality on its own does not take into consideration that even with the same opportunities, some pupils will have different needs in order to succeed. This is where equity comes in.
Equity in education aims to provide equal opportunity to all students no matter what a student’s background, language, race, economic profile, gender, learning capability, disability or family history. Equity builds on fairness and inclusion, with safeguards such as interventions and resources utilised to ensure every individual has the opportunity to get the support and resources they need to achieve their educational goals.
Equity aims to ensure educational opportunities are on a level playing field for everyone – for those who have disabilities or who come from low-income families or from other marginalised groups. For example, equity would recognise that a child with a specific disability requires different physical assistance at school than a peer who does not and thus educational tools, resources and assistance can be tailored to specific needs.
Ensuring pupil equity is at the heart of all educational policies. The Scottish Government have allocated funding to schools to assist in ensuring equity.
