Bonal is a more recent and more practical paper than those previous in Case File 2. He sets out to challenge the assumption that education will combat poverty by demonstrating the limitations of poor people in acquiring ‘useful’ education – of a level and quality sufficient to give them earning power above poverty levels.
The elasticity of required level and quality – rising as the average level rises – is shown as a major hindrance. It also shows the way the already powerful sustain their power by changing the rules to maintain their advantage – a way to sustain the poverty trap despite increasing education. Factors other than education – political social and economic – also need to be in place to achieve social mobility.
Targeting strategies generally had only a local and temporary effect.
The overall conclusion is that policies have been simplistic, non-interactive and therefore ineffective. The concept of educability sounds horribly eugenic but realistically ‘places the emphasis on ‘precisely those factors associated with poverty that prevent the poor from taking advantage of educational opportunities.’
Quite a useful paper in understanding why policy has failed though not coming up with much in terms of alternative strategy approaches.