Society

Education is supposed to be the great equaliser. The evidence says otherwise. Bourdieu called it decades ago: schools reproduce the social order they pretend to transcend. Privilege is the entrance fee that nobody admits is being charged.

The German word ‘Barrierefreiheit’ promises freedom from barriers. That promise is structurally impossible. What we can achieve is Barrierearmut — a reduction of barriers. The difference is not semantic; it has consequences for policy, design, and institutional honesty.