PEOPLE
“When children feel
disempowered…then they
are less likely to succeed…
and less likely to become the
sort of citizens they want…”
T
hat early involvement with the ESU gave Lord
Boateng a great deal of affinity and affection
for our organisation and aims: “I remain
absolutely convinced that public speaking and debating
have got a key role in combating disadvantage, and
promoting educational achievement and excellence,”
he adds.
His early career as a lawyer based in a law centre in
a deprived London community reinforced his belief
that language was crucial in enabling the community
to articulate its own needs. Lord Boateng’s experiences
throughout what became a high-profile legal career, often
championing community cases and civil right campaigns,
did little to dispel that belief; nor has role as a politician,
where he has often been associated with issues such as
youth opportunity, working with hard-to-reach groups and
ethnic minorities.
“For me language, and the English language
specifically, has always been so important,” says Lord
Boateng. “Language can divide, language can unify; the
role of English has been, globally, to unify. In the country
in which I was brought up, in the Gold Coast and then
in Ghana, there are seven local dialects, so the national
language is English, it unifies the nation.
“When I practised as a lawyer, and when I was a
frontline politician, the crucial thing about language
was the way in which it enables people to participate. To
participate economically – vital; to participate politically
and in civil society – vital; to build relationships between
neighbours, and to combat isolation – vital. When I
think about the ESU, I see its work as fitting within the
most significant area of community and international
development that there is; giving people a sense that they
can be empowered to participate through the spoken and
written word. That’s what the ESU does.”
10 | dialogue
Dartmouth House, October 2013: Lord Boateng in conversation
with ESU Director of Business Development James Ward
And Lord Boateng is as passionate about what the
ESU does as he is about the language itself. The public’s
knowledge of the organisation has been drawn largely in
the past from high-profile activities such as the Schools
Mace, John Smith Memorial Mace and the Public
Speaking Competition for Schools, activities which have
given thousands of young people – Lord Boateng among
them– the opportunity to gain confidence and experience
debating. However, other ESU initiatives, including the
English in Action in Schools programme and our work
with the UK Refugee Council (see page 20), are having an
equally profound effect on children and young people.
“I think we have a very important role, particularly in
those areas where traditionally we may have struggled to
get over the significance and importance of debate and
public speaking,” says Lord Boateng. “To work with people
who have English as a second language, as well as those
who have communication difficulties whatever their first
language, and to give them the confidence of language is
to add tremendous value.”
“As a nation, in a whole range of policies around
community engagement, integration and immigration,
we are putting much greater emphasis on the English
language; I think the ESU has a role to play in enabling
people to acquire those language skills and be able to
communicate effectively.”