AABODY had ane o them teachers at scuil. Ye ken the kyne. The ane that taucht ye things gye beyond the SQA syllabus, the things that ye will mind on for the rest o yer life. Ah had ane o these teachers onywye, an durin ma time in his claisses he passit on mony a pearl o wisdom tae ma. Ane o whilk was the realisation that rural bairns, tae a degree, were discriminatit agin in an educational context. Ah’ll nivver forget the story he telt tae ma, aboot the scuil inspectors fa couldnae believe the level o attainment that the bairns had at ma wee public secondary scuil, aamaist oot in the middle o naewye. Fit why wad they be shockit that we were, on the hail, academically successful? Weel, we were “jist kintra bairns”.

Oweraa, fowk dinna realise jist foo prominent this stigma is, especially ‘ithin rural communities themsels. Aire’s even mair than likely fowk fa exercise it athoot even kenin that the dae sae. But fan ye think aboot it, the assumption that kintra bairns cannae be as clivver as toon bairns is as daft as believin that quines cannae be as clivver as loons, or that the bairn fa’s faither is a postie cannae be as clivver as a bairn fa’s faither is a banker. Fit’s mair, we dinnae realise jist foo damagin it is either. Anither nougat o information that the wise man mentionit abuin providit ma wi was the existence o the self-fufilling prophecy. The theory can be applied tae a wheen o different situations, but leukin at the expectations o bairns in rural scuils is an ideal exemple. If we dinnae believe in kintra bairns, foo can we expect them tae gaung on an dae weel in life?

Ah, but they dae. The maist recent figures fae the Scots government (concernin public scuils anely) show that 40.4% o bairns fae lairge urban areas gaung on tae higher education aifter they leave scuil, whiles that nummer is a thochtie higher for bairns that gaung tae scuil in an accessible rural area – 40.6% o them will gaung on tae study at varsity or college. Even in remote rural areas 38.4% o pupils will leave scuil heidit for higher education o some kyne. The difference is even mair noticable fan ye tak tent o foo mony scuil leavers end up in fit the government caas “Positive Destinations” – 96% o bairns fae remote rural public scuils and 95% fae accessible rural public scuils are destined for somethin positive aifter leavin scuil, comparit wi 92.2% o inner city scuil leavers. Sae mebbe urban doesnae ayeweys mean best?

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The fact that mony rural bairns gaung on tae be successful proves jist foo hard-warkin an intelligent the majority o them are. Nae anely dae maist o them dae weel for themsels, but they completely redargue onybody fa disnae think that kintra bairns hiv got potential. Ane o the maist common arguments that fowk like ‘at pit forrit is that mony pupils at kintra scuils are the bairns o fairmers, an are likely tae gaung on tae be fairmers themsels, sae they dinnae need tae, an dinnae want tae succeed at scuil. In the rural North-East, the same is aften said aboot young anes gaun intae fishin. This is nocht but absolute haivers. Firstly, it suggests that the fowk fa believe this drivel dinnae think that fowk fa wark in the fishin or fermin need tae hae a brain in their heids, somethin that onybody fa has spent ony length o time warkin in either o these industries wad shuirly disagree wi. Secondly, these fowk maun think that securin a job in fishin or fermin isnae an incredible achievement that ony scuil leaver shoud be prood o – in fit case they are aff their heids. Even sae, mony young fowk fae fishin an fermin backgrunds hiv gane aff tae dae studies at college or varsity level afore startin wark, be it in the industry maist associatit wi their heritage, or a sector that is totally new tae them.

It isnae fair at aa tae assume that kintra bairns hiv mair academic potential than toon bairns or vice versa. Theres gaun tae be advantages o gaun tae scuil in a big toon or city, sic as easier access tae work experience opportunities in certain sectors, mebbe the sectors that micht be associatit mair wi prestige than some o the wark available in mair rural areas. Aye, mebbe it coud be argued that the opportunities arnae the same for bairns that attend kintra scuils, mebbe they hiv tae fecht that bitty harder tae secure their dream career in the end, but it doesnae deem them ony less worthy o it; if onythin it maks them aa the mair deservin. Aire’s benefits tae bein educatit in a rural environment ina. Ye winna airt oot a single person mair connectit an aware o oor natural warld than somebody fa was ance a bairn fa spent their playtimes playin chasies wi the coos in the park adjacent tae their playgrund. An, a warld sae disconnectit fae reality as a result o an obsession wi technologie needs mair fowk wi a connection tae nature. Mebbe a kintra education isnae aa that bad at aa.

Ultimately, bairns, whither educatit in the toon or the kintra, will dae the best they can wi fit their gien. They dinnae get tae decide whither they get tae lairn in the maist wee, remote scuil in Scotland, or in the biggest ane, in the maist populated area o the kintra. Jist like nae bairn gets tae decide fit claiss their faimily belangs tae, or the gender o the body they were born intae. In an ideal warld nane o these things wad affect bairns’ chunces at success at scuil, nor in life, but they dae. The ferst step taewarts puttin a stop tae it is believin in them, nae maitter far they cam fae. Bairns will nivver believe in themsels if the adults they look uptae dinnae.