Share

My good friend Sam regularly writes about education with wit and erudition. To prove how difficult this is, I’ve posted a recent rant of mine:

The real scandal in British education is not that a handful of ancient institutions continue to out-perform nearly all comprehensives. It is the gross hypocrisy in politicians pretending the state system offers equality of opportunity.

There may be no up-front charge to send a child to a top-performing Government-run school, but education is anything but free.

The premium on house prices in the catchment area of a school which turns out A-grade pupils is often more than the fees charged by private day schools. Parents outside the highest earning professional classes cannot buy into these neighbourhoods. This raises the question: Which is the worst example of discrimination – to deny a pupil admission to the top performing school because they lack academic ability or because their parents cannot afford to buy an expensive house?

Unless the selection process is made less ridiculous the entire concept of public sector education is in danger of being discredited.

Middle-class parents are increasingly less embarrassed to explore private education as an option because so many would do likewise if they could afford it.

They ask themselves, “What could be a more ethical investment than a son or daughter’s education?” Should I throw thousands of pounds into golf club membership, buy a carbon-spewing 4x4, or help ensure the human being Providence has placed in my responsibility grows up to become an adult capable of exercising wisdom and original thought?

Perhaps great schools have endured partly due to the fact each has enjoyed the freedom to educate in the fullest sense, honing an individual identity and pursing unique values and a distinct ethos?

Why do we expect politicians who have never run even a medium-sized corporation to be able to take the reins of an education system with a budget of billions?

Ambitious politicians searching for an issue which shall unlock passion in voters will grasp this nettle. The bravest solution would involve liberating schools from the iron grip of people like themselves.